Background
Biodiversity is the variety of life at any given place, and it is currently under threat, with potentially irreversible consequences. Insects play an important part in biodiversity, for example by providing pollination services. Another important factor for biodiversity is the presence of Oaks (Quercus sp.) which have roughly 1000 species connected to them in Sweden.
Beetles are one of the largest group of insects with at least 360 000 species. A subgroup known as saproxylic beetles feed or lives in decaying wood. One source of their diversity is the range of decay that exists in dead wood. Longhorned beetles or Cerambycidae is one of the most diverse beetle groups and has 118 species in Sweden. There has been a decrease of these beetles due to changed forestry practices for example. Click beetles or Elateridae can be found across the world, and they are known to predate on Cerambycids. But some are threatened as well. The Oak pinhole borer, Platypus cylindrus, is a small pest species on oaks that recently has been discovered in southern Sweden and is otherwise found across Europe.
Pheromones are chemicals that are meant to trigger a reaction from another organism. They are used to coordinate activities and to signal danger among other things. These chemicals have increasingly been used for species monitoring. These pheromones are important for cerambycids and many of them use the same of similar pheromones. Species identification apps have changed how people can experience nature and allows for a closer connection between them. The apps may also gather data to be used by scientists and for model training.
Aims
This study aimed to investigate several factors regarding the saproxylic beetle families Cerambycidae and Elateridae, as well as investigate the spread of Platypus cylindrus. Both beetle families are subject to a changing environment and are connected to each other by way of predation, some are threatened and on the Swedish red list. To gather information that will help in species conservation, several different factors will be looked at. A general mapping of species was conducted to see if the relevant species have any previously undiscovered sites and to check if the P. cylindrus have spread from their currently known area. Any potential predator-prey connections between the beetle families will be sought to find exact interactions. The effects of the amount and volume of trees on beetle species diversity will be determined. As will the effects of land cover. Finally, an evaluation of species identification photo applications will be conducted given their recent rise in use.