During field work, specialists in the ForBioSensing project read the status of dendrometers - special devices permanently mounted on trees that monitor the growth of the perimeter of trees non-invasively.

Constant monitoring of the increment is performed with the use of 278 dendrometers placed on 10 main tree species occurring in the Białowieża Forest. These are the first data of this type for the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest. An interesting case was noticed during the last reading of data from dendrometers. On one of the surfaces, uninvited guests pecked 2 dendrometers on the spruce trees so that they stopped working. Whose trick is this? Well, they were woodpeckers!

The trees are alive and well and the damage to the equipment will be reported to the insurer. In the attached photos you can see the extent of the damage. This is not the first time woodpeckers have damaged dendrometers in the project. And these are troublemakers!

Text W.Duranowska

Photo. A.Sałachewicz