Programme

Day 0     17 May 2026, Sunday     Arrivals

Students and teachers need to arrive to Oviedo by 18:00. Van is booked to collect most of the participants from the Oviedo city center (Google maps), and the remaining few – from the airport, more details in the welcome email. There is a bus connection from the Oviedo airport to the Oviedo city. Latecomers need to organize own taxi to the hotel Hotel Balcón de Agüera in St. Martin. Arrivals and check-in around 19:00.

20:00   DINNER

Day 1     18 May 2026, Monday     Habitat day

9:00    BREAKFAST
10:00  Welcome, setting the scene, announcements, introductions
11:00  Jose Valentin Roces Diaz: Asturias and the Cantabrian Mixed Forest Region – Biogeography, Landscapes, and Ecosystem Dynamics
11:45  COFFEE
12:00  Dmitry Schigel: Habitat and intro lecture 1
12:45  Elisabet Ottosson: Habitat and intro lecture 2
13:30  Carlos NN: A new dead wood method
14:00  LUNCH
15:00  Excursion near Teverga #1
20:00  SOCIAL DINNER

Day 2     19 May 2026, Tuesday     Fungal day

9:00    BREAKFAST
10:00  Elisabet Ottosson: Fungal diversity in dead wood
10:45  Julia Pawłowska: Sweet residents: what are Mucoromycetes doing in dead wood?
11:30  COFFEE
12:00  Elisabet Ottosson: Anatomy and biochemistry of wood decay
13:00  Dmitry Schigel: European polypores 
14:00  LUNCH
15:00  Methods demo near the venue
16:30  COFFEE
17:00  Timelapse review and video
17:30  Dmitry Schigel: “movie night” – using documentary for dead wood outreach
20:00  DINNER

Day 3     20 May 2029, Wednesday     Invertebrates day

9:00    BREAKFAST
10.00  Benoît Dodelin: Mycophagous beetles: inventories and indicators
11:00  COFFEE
11:30  Marcos Méndez: Diversity and sampling of saproxylic beetles in Iberian habitats
12:30  Dmitry Schigel: Insect, fungi, and trees – an ecological triangle
14:00  LUNCH
15:00 Excursion near Teverga #2
20:00  DINNER

Day 4     21 May 2026, Thursday     Excursion day

8:00    BREAKFAST
9:00    Full day excursion to Montegrande Hayedo (vans, packed lunch)
15:00  Free time and book exam preps
20:00  COURSE DINNER

Day 5     22 May 2026, Friday     Conservation day

8:00    BREAKFAST
9:00    Elisabet Ottosson: Fungal conservation today
9:30    Benoît Dodelin: European Red List of Saproxylic Beetles
10:00  Marcos Méndez: Saproxylic conservation: species- and community-level approaches
10:30  COFFEE & CHECKOUT
11:00  Dmitry Schigel: Dead wood as nature and dead wood as culture
11:30  Book exam
12:30  Feedback form. End of course & goodbyes.
13:00  LUNCH
14:00  Departures

Scope

The intensive five-day course program is comprised by lectures, workshops, excursions, and an obligatory book exam. The target group is advanced master and PhD students. It is recommended that students have taken basic courses in entomology, mycology, and ecology. The aim of the course is to familiarize students with various aspects of the habitat, organism groups, and ecological processes in dead wood, as well as with the local specifics of saproxylic ecology. Dead wood experts provide deeper coverage of their fields and research and give examples of case studies and the workshop sessions. We go through a broad range of topics, such as biodiversity in dead wood in forest environments, biodiversity conservation and restoration, and of course all kinds of lignicolous organisms: fungi, insects, and more.

Assignment, study credits, and book exam

Course attendance is 2 ECTS. In addition, students must choose one of the books for the obligatory course exam, which takes place on the last day of the course: either a lighter Afterlife of a Tree, for additional +2 ECTS, or medium-level Biodiversity in Dead Wood, +3 ECTS. These books are strongly recommended for the first-timers, whose aspiration and efforts invested before the course should dictate the choice of the book.

Students already well familiar with dead wood systems may instead choose one of the advanced books: Ecology of Saprotrophic Basidiomycetes for a deep dive into the fungal matters, or Saproxylic Insects for the deep dive into the hexapods. These books add +3 ECTS through a book exam. It makes sense to select one of these books if you are already in the field and are using saproxylic system in your studies or research.

For the book exam, you are supposed to read and to understand the whole book, and to be able to debate and discuss, orally and in writing, the topics covered. You are not expected to reproduce the whole text, nor to know it down to every footnote , but rather know the essentials of every chapter and understand the principles of the habitat functioning and the main species groups. At the 1.5h written book exam, there may be an essay, a mindmap, or other similar way to show your knowledge on paper. For most, reading a book thoroughly once, and then browsing before the course should do the trick.Students who have difficulties to access study literature should contact Dmitry Schigel. It is impossible to complete the course and receive a certificate without a book exam. Please remember to select a book and read it before your arrival to the course.

• Bobiec A, Gutowski JM, Zub K, Pawlaczyk P, Laudenslayer WF 2005. The Afterlife of a Tree. WWF Poland, 252 pp. ISBN 83-920712-1-2 (basic book, 2 ECTS credits)
• Stokland JN, Siitonen J, & Jonsson BG 2012. Biodiversity in Dead Wood. Cambridge Univ. Press, 524 pp. ISBN 9780521717038 (intermediate level, 3 ECTS credits).
• Lynne B, Frankland J, Van West P, eds. 2007. Ecology of saprotrophic basidiomycetes Elsevier, 386 pp. eBook ISBN 9780080551500 / ISBN 9780123741851 (advanced book on fungi, 3 ECTS credits).
• Ulyshen MD, ed. 2018. Saproxylic Insects. Diversity, Ecology and Conservation. Springer, 904 pp. eBook ISBN 978-3-319-75937-1 / ISBN 978-3-319-75936-4 (advanced book on insects, 3 ECTS credits).

Exam is graded pass / fail after the course and course certificates are sent by e-mail to those who need them. Study credits are not transferred to the universities by the course organizers. 

Location

The course venue is located inside one of the most impressive mountain and forest areas in Asturias, Spain, covered by oak and chestnut broadleaf forests in a basin of river Trubia, this is land of bears and of very good countryside cuisine.

Student and teacher accommodation: Hotel Balcón de Agüera — LA, Favorita, 7, 33111 San Martín, Asturias, Spain Google maps

Study space: City hall, San Martín, Asturias, Spain

Logistics

Students travelling to the course need to make it to Oviedo themselves and at own cost. Participants need to buy own tickets and to unform organizers on their arrival and departure times, flight numbers by 20 March 2026. The course organizers unfortunately cannot assist with visa support. Transportation will be provided from Oviedo only on two occasions: on Sunday before the course, and on Friday after the course; these are included in the course fee. Should you need to arrive or depart independently, see venue’s location on Google maps. There is limited, free parking space for the hotel guests.

Accommodation and food

Students will be in in double rooms with twin beds, there is also one quadriple room with two bunk beds (shared accommodation), the space in the casa rural is limited. Bedclothes and towels are provided. Breakfast is included.

Other meals (lunches, dinners) will be organized starting from dinner on Sunday, 17 May till lunch on Friday, 22 May inclusive, taking into account your dietary limitations provided at registration. There is a possibility to buy some snacks and drinks from the bar and the nearby shops. There are small grocery stores and ATMs in San Martín. While you should be able to use bank cards, it may be a good idea to have some cash in EUR.

Costs

Registration fee

The course operates on a non-profit basis, but needs to cover the running and organization costs. The course fee is 300 EUR payable on site on arrival, cash only. A simple receipt can be provided. Registration and confirmation come with an obligation to pay the course fee of 300 EUR.

Accommodation and meals

Costs of accommodation (30 EUR per night) and of meals (∼40 EUR per day) have been negotiated with the hotel and the catering provider, and we received the best possible group discounts. Accommodation is payable to the hotel, and catering – to the restaurants, both accept card or cash payments. These costs are not included in the course fee.

Gear

The intensive five-day Dead Wood Course is based on the combination of lecture, field, lab and demo activities. A significant and important part of the course takes place outdoors and the programme is not adjusted to the weather conditions. It is therefore your responsibility to bring appropriate field clothes and shoes that are suitable for the forest and mountain environment, including rain and mud, etc. You are advised to bring rainwear, insect repellent, sunscreen, a personal water flask. You may consider bringing headlamp and other outdoor equipment for excursions.

Even thought we will be walking together, it is a good idea to have a GPS, download offline trail maps (such as Maps.me, Mapy.com etc.) so you use of your smartphone GPS without coverage, and to have a power bank, a compass, and whistle. The course will take place in a bear country where no attacks were ever reported.

You might like to install iNaturalist, PlutoF or other such apps and to make e-observations of the saproxylic and other organisms. Sampling is allowed, but the course cannot assist with collecting or export permits. You can therefore bring a sturdy knife, forceps, some small plastic jars or Eppendorf tubes, a hand lens, and paper bags. In case you plan to examine saproxylic life at the course base, you need to pack your preferred lab gear yourselves.

Insurance

Own health and travel insurance arrangements are required for all participants and all activities during the course, and it is participants’ own responsibility to make sure that any health or travel related situations are covered.

Course team

The course team is comprised by dead wood experts from Spain, France, Poland, Sweden, and Finland.

Dmitry Schigel – University of Helsinki, Finland
Elisabet Ottosson – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Benoît Dodelin – France
Marcos Méndez – Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Julia Pawłowska – University of Warsaw, Poland
Support in Asturias
Maria Delgado – Biodiversity Research Institute (CSIC/PA/UO), Spain

Students

Firstname Lastname	Country	Name University, Department of name

Contacts

Our main communication media is e-mail.

Emergency phone numbers: