Sitka spruce dieback in Reykjavik, Iceland- Triggered by insect outbreaks, pollution or climate extremes?

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Juliane Kuckuk

Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz, Germany

: Expert Opin Environ Biol

Abstract

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A large part of the roadside trees (Sitka Spruce) along the main road (Miklabraut) in Reykjavík centre are in bad health, and large part of them are already dead or are dying. This could be due to various reasons. Possible reasons are the frequent green spruce aphid outbreaks, climate change and pollution (due to road traffic e.g. salt spray and smog). The most probable reason is the combined effect of climate change on green spruce aphid outbreaks due to warmer winter and spring temperatures and probably also because of the pollution along the Miklabraut road. The changing pattern of the NAO might also have an influence on the population of green spruce aphid (an influence of the NAO was detected for green spruce aphid populations in the United Kingdom).

Biography

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E-mail: jkuckuk@students.uni-mainz.de