This area of work deals with the biology, population ecology and virulence of native and imported biotic pests and pathogens on forest trees. The influences of climatic and other abiotic damaging factors play a major role here. We prepare cause-effect analyses that include site and stand parameters as well as climatic effect variables.
Current special focuses of the department’s work are on ash dieback, fir complex disease, bark beetles on coniferous species, phyllophagous pests on oak, and the population dynamics of the forest cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani) in relation to climatic parameters. The department investigates and tests new methods as alternatives to the use of plant protection products to regulate pest populations and mitigate damage. In its work on forest pathology, the department also analyses the development of wood rot, determines the causes of other fungal diseases on trees, and develops strategies to prevent them. In the field of molecular genetic methodology, the department's own laboratory expands its possibilities for investigating and identifying harmful organisms.