Fauna depot

Up to 80 per cent of the endangered forest insects on the Swedish Red List are dependent on dead or dying trees. The insects live in the wood, in the bark or in wood fungi that grow, for example, on decaying logs. In the Ecopark, we leave dying and dead trees where they are on the ground, and we also leave out piles of dead tree stumps and brushwood – so-called ‘fauna depots’ – for the benefit of the threatened forest insects. Some people might think it looks untidy, but once they understand the good that these fauna depots do, they see why we do it. You’ll see several fauna depots in our Ecopark.

By stacking logs of varying thickness on top of each other, different environments are created with a variety of moisture, light and wind conditions. As the logs age, fungi and moss begin to break down the wood, and new micro-habitats are created for a number of wood-dwelling species such as beetles, flies and sawflies. Research has shown that wood that’s at least five years old supports the most red-listed species.