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Die Gefährdung der Eiche durch biotische Schaderreger ist in der einschlägigen Fachliteratur umfänglich beschrieben (u.a. PATOKA 1980, HARTMANN 1995, ALTENKIRCH et al. 2000). Im Jahr 2004 rückte die Fraßgesellschaft der Eiche im Zusammenhang mit den beobachteten „Austriebsdepressionen“ in den besonderen Fokus der Waldschutzüberwachung in Brandenburg. Im Mai 2004 gab es aus allen Ämtern für Forstwirtschaft Brandenburgs Meldungen über massive Austriebsstörungen, d.h. die Terminalknospen waren nur schwach entwickelt oder bereits abgestorben, nicht selten war die gesamte Triebspitze kaum noch lebensfähig. Die Untersuchung des Materials zeigte, dass keine primären pilzlichen Schaderreger und die Eichenfraßgesellschaft in unterschiedlichem Maß, zumeist aber mit sehr geringen Populationsdichten, an den Blattmasseverlusten beteiligt waren. Ursächlich schien die Austriebsstörung zu sein. Die überregionale Verbreitung der Schäden und die Symptomausprägung deuten auf eine abiotische Beeinträchtigung der Eichen hin. Die Annahme einer witterungsbedingten Schädigung ist nahe liegend, da im Rekordsommer“ 2003 mit über dem Durchschnitt liegenden Temperaturen, erheblichen Niederschlagsdefiziten und überdurchschnittlich hoher Sonnenscheindauer extreme Witterungsverhältnisse herrschten. Im Oktober 2003 kam es zu einem plötzlichen, gravierenden Temperatursturz. Überhöhte Temperaturen im Februar führten zu einer erneuten Belastung des Stoffwechsels der Eichen (HEYDECK & MÖLLER 2004).
1. Generalist natural enemies are usually not considered as being capable of causing population cycles in forest insects, but they may influence the population dynamics of their prey in the low density cycle phase when specialist enemies are largely absent. 2. In the present field study, the total response of the generalist invertebrate predator community to experimentally established pupal densities of the closely related autumnal (Epirrita autumnata) and winter moths (Operophtera brumata) was analysed. 3. Due to the high amount of variation in the dataset, the exact shape of the response curve could not be convincingly estimated. Nevertheless, two important conclusions can be drawn from the analyses. 4. Firstly, the natural invertebrate predator community seems to become saturated at rather low densities of both autumnal and winter moth pupae. Secondly, the predator community seems to become saturated at much lower densities of autumnal than of winter moth pupae. 5. Furthermore, pupal mass was significantly negatively correlated with invertebrate predation probability in autumnal moth pupae. 6. These results indicate that differences in the predator assemblage being able to consume pupae of the two moth species, as well as different handling times, could be responsible for the substantially higher predation rates in winter than in autumnal moth pupae. 7. As a consequence, the population dynamics of autumnal moths might be less affected by generalist invertebrate predators than those of winter moths, as autumnal moths seem able to escape from the regulating influence of generalist predators at much lower population densities than winter moths.
One of the unresolved questions in studies on population dynamics of forest Lepidoptera is why some populations at times reach outbreak densities, whereas others never do. Resolving this question is especially challenging if populations of the same species in different areas or of closely-related species in the same area are considered. The present study focused on three closely-related geometrid moth species, autumnal Epirrita autumnata, winter Operophtera brumata and northern winter moths Operophtera fagata, in southern Finland. There, winter and northern winter moth populations can reach outbreak densities, whereas autumnal moth densities stay relatively low. We tested the hypothesis that a lower vulnerability to pupal predation may explain the observed differences in population dynamics. The results obtained do not support this hypothesis because pupal predation probabilities were not significantly different between the two genera within or without the Operophtera outbreak area or in years with or without a current Operophtera outbreak. Overall, pupal predation was even higher in winter and northern winter moths than in autumnal moths. Differences in larval predation and parasitism, as well as in the reproductive capacities of the species, might be other candidates.