Diptera also form a large part of the fauna associated with dead wood. My studies concentrated on woody beech litter, and I have reviewed the different meanings dead wood may have for dipteran species belonging to different trophic groups (Hövemeyer 1998).

I have also conducted a ten-year study in an effort to investigate the succession of Diptera on logs of dead beech wood in relation to exposition time and environmental factors (Hövemeyer & Schauermann, in press). The pictures on this page illustrate this study. They show the trees, from which log samples were taken and an emergence trap of the type used in this study.

The last three pictures show three logs, which had been exposed for ten years. Quite obviously, each log underwent a highly individual fate: one fairly undamaged, one with a thick moss cushion on it, and one completely submerged in the leaf litter.