Dr. Beat Wermelinger

Fonction

collaborateur scientifique

Entomologie forestière

Contact

beat.wermelinger(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 22 58+41 44 739 22 58

Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt, la neige et le paysage WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi HL D 32

Education

1976-80	Studies in biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich.
1981-1985	Ph.D. thesis at the Institute of Plant Production at ETH Zurich
1985-1986	Post-doc at the University of California, Berkeley
1987-1991	Research assistant with the Institute of Plant Sciences at ETH Zurich
1991-2018	Group leader 'Forest Entomology' at the Swiss Federal Institute WSL

Interests

Development and succession of insect communities after windthrow and wildfire
Population dynamics of potential pests and their natural enemies
Biodiversity of saproxylic (=wood inhabiting) insects
Dead wood ecology
Insect photography

Teaching

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich: Lecturer in "Ecology and Management of Forest Insects"
Swiss Tree Surgery Association: Course in "Insects and Tree surgery"

Memberships

National

Swiss Entomological Society
Swiss Society for Phytiatry
Working group Coleoptera

International

IUFRO-working group "Ecology and management of bark and wood boring insects"
IUFRO-working group "Integrated management of forest defoliating insects"
IUFRO-working group "Population dynamics of forest insects"

My latest highlight

The book "Forest insects – diversity, functions, and importance" (in German) is the result of more than 20 years teaching in forest entomology and my even longer existing hobby of insect photography. It is both a text and photo book covering the manifold significance of forest insects for forests and humans. More information (in German)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

FORClimateS

The project aims to aggregate and synthesize existing information on different spatial and temporal scales to provide decision-makers with relevant and robust information on short- and long-term risks for forests and forest functions and on adaptation strategies under different climate futures

Insect biomass development

We investigate the development of insect abundance trends in Switzerland during the last 30 years.

Saproxylic beetles in forest reserves

Deadwood is an essential habitat for many organisms. We investigate the saproxylic (deadwood-inhabiting) beetles and fungi in beech forest reserves and comparable managed forests.

Impact of fuel wood piles on saproxylic beetles

In Switzerland, a strong increase in the demand for energy wood is expected for the next decades. This is likely to have a strong influence on saproxylic beetles (dependent on dead wood). On the one hand, fewer old trees and less deadwood will remain and decompose in the forest, which directly limits habitat availability for saproxylics. On the other hand, fuel wood exploitation might have indirect ecological consequences.

Wild fire and insects

In 2003 some 300 ha of forest on the hillside above Leuk burnt down. Along a horizontal gradient from within-forest to the center of the fire area and along an altitudinal gradient from 1200 to 1700 m a.s.l. we investigate the process of colonization by insects and the succession of the taxonomic and functional groups.