Patterns of an elevational gradient affecting moths across the South Korean mountains: effects of geometric constraints,plants, and climate

We investigated elevational richness patterns of three moth groups (Erebidae, Geometridae, and Noctuidae) along four elevational gradients located on one northern and three southern mountains in South Korea, as well as the effects of plants and climatic factors on the diversity patterns of moths. Moths were collected with an ultraviolet light trap at 32 sites from May through October, 2013. Plant species richness and mean temperatures for January and June were acquired. Observed and estimated moth species richness was calculated and the diversity patterns with null models were compared. Species richness along four elevational gradients peaked at mid-elevations, whereas deviations occurred at elevations below mid-peak in the southern mountains and elevations higher than mid-peak on the northern mountain. Species richness curves of three moth groups also peaked at mid-elevations throughout South Korea. However, the species richness curves for Erebidae were positively skewed, indicating that a preference for lowlands, whereas curves of the Geometridae were negatively skewed, indicating a preference for highlands. The mid-peak diversity pattern between plants and moths on the Korean mountains showed an elevational breadth that overlapped between 800 and 900 m. Multiple regression analysis revealed that plant species richness and January mean temperature significantly influenced moth species richness and abundance. The rapid increase in mean annual temperature in the Korean peninsula and the unimodal elevational gradients of moths across the country suggest that an uphill shift in peak optimum elevation and changes in the highest peak of the curve will occur in the future.     

Diversity and composition of larger moths in three different forest types of Southern Korea

Moth assemblages in three habitat types were investigated to find differences in species richness and abundances and to find any specific moth group(s) in each habitat. Study areas were in southern Korea: lowlands of Muan-county, Jeollanam-do Province and mid-elevations to highlands of Mt. Jirisan National Park. Moth monitoring, conducted at eight sites, was comprised of three habitat types—native forest, regenerative forest and rural landscape. A total of 4,803 individuals, consisting of 583 species in 362 genera, were identified. Species richness did not differ significantly by habitat type or elevation. ANOVA indicated that site, location and elevation significantly affected the species abundances of Drepanidae, Epiplemidae, Limacodidae, Noctuidae and Zygaenidae, while habitat type was not a significant factor. The moth abundances of Geometridae, Lasiocampidae, Lymantriidae, Notodontidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae and Thyatiridae were not significantly associated with any independent variables. The diversity patterns of larger moths along environmental gradients and the relationship between moths and forest types were discussed.     

The value of woody hedgerows for moth diversity on organic and conventional farms

Habitat destruction and degradation are important drivers of biodiversity loss within agro-ecosystems. However, little is known about the effect of farming practices and the value of woody hedgerows on Lepidoptera in North America. The purpose of this work was to study moth diversity in woody hedgerows and croplands of organic and conventional farms. In addition, the influence of vegetation composition and abiotic variables on species richness, abundance, and composition was examined. Moths were sampled with light traps during six weeks in the summer of 2001. Vegetation data and abiotic variables were obtained for all sites. In total, 26,020 individuals from 12 families and 408 species were captured. Most species were uncommon. Only 35 species included >100 individuals while for 71% of species <10 individuals were found. The Noctuidae represented 221 species and 85% of all individuals captured. Woody hedgerows harbored more species and in greater number than croplands. There was no significant difference in moth diversity between organic and conventional farms, except that the Notodontidae were significantly more species rich in organic than in conventional sites. Results show that species richness, abundance, and composition were greatly influenced by habitat types (hedgerow versus crop field) and abiotic variables (minimum temperature which was correlated to moon illumination, rainfall, and cloud cover). Moth species composition was significantly correlated to vegetation composition. This study broadens our understanding of the factors driving moth diversity and expands our knowledge of their geographic range. The maintenance of noncrop habitats such as woody hedgerows within agro-ecosystems seems paramount to preserving the biodiversity and abundance of many organisms, including moths.     

Contrasting effects of habitat quantity and quality on moth communities in fragmented landscapes

Habitat loss is commonly identified as a major threat to the loss of global biodiversity. In this study, we expand on our previous work by addressing the question of how lepidopteran species richness and composition vary among remnants of North American eastern deciduous forest located within agricultural or pastoral landscapes. Specifically, we tested the relative roles of habitat quantity (measured as stand area and percent forest in the greater landscape) and habitat quality (measured as tree species diversity) as determinants of moth species richness. We sampled >19 000 individuals comprising 493 moth species from 21 forest sites in two forested ecoregions. In the unglaciated Western Allegheny Plateau, the species richness of moths with woody host plants diminished as forest stand size and percent forest in the landscape decreased, but the total species richness and abundance of moths were unaffected by stand size, percent forest in the landscape, or tree species diversity. In contrast, the overall species richness and abundance of moths in the glaciated North Central Tillplain were affected primarily by tree species diversity and secondarily by forest size. Higher tree species diversity may reduce species loss from smaller forest stands, suggesting that small, diverse forests can support comparable numbers of species to those in less diverse, large stands. Smaller forests, however, contained a disproportionate number of moth species that possess larvae known to feed on herbaceous vegetation. Thus, although woody plant feeding moths are lost from forests with changes in stand area, new species appear capable of recolonizing smaller fragments from the surrounding habitat matrix. Our study further suggests that when species replacement occurs, local patch size and habitat quality may be more important than landscape context in determining the community structure of forest Lepidoptera.     

长白山高山苔原带蛾类物种组成及其时间动态

长白山高山苔原带环境条件恶劣，通过对高山苔原带蛾类研究，揭示蛾类物种组成以及时间变化，可为研究蛾类对苔原极端生境的适应能力，以及蛾类在维持苔原带生态平衡中的作用提供依据。2005-2007年和2019年，每年的6、7、8月，在长白山高山苔原带利用灯诱采集蛾类标本，分析蛾类的物种组成以及时间动态。共采集蛾类1585头，隶属于13科126种，夜蛾科（Noctuidae）为优势类群，绿组夜蛾（Anaplectoides prasina）和一色兜夜蛾（Cosmia unicolor）为优势种，稀有种较多。蛾类的种-多度分布接近生态位优先假说。7月份蛾类的物种数、个体数最多，丰富度指数、多样性指数都最高，但均匀度指数却最低。不同种类对时间的反应表现出一定的差异，黄绿组夜蛾（Anaplectoides virens）对8月，厉切夜蛾（Euxoa lidia）对6月的适应力相对较强。各物种的顺序日期存在一定的差异性，只有10种蛾类在3个月份都被采集到。研究表明，长白山高山苔原带蛾类的多样性较低，成虫活跃期较短；不同类群的蛾类在苔原环境中显示出差异化的适应性，夜蛾科的适应能力超过其它类群，尺蛾科（Geometridae）的适应性相对较低，蛾类对时间的变化反应比较敏感。     

Contrasting patterns of vertical stratification in two moth families in a Costa Rican lowland rain forest

The vertical stratification of two species-rich moth families (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae, Geometridae) was analysed in a lowland rain forest in Costa Rica. Moths were trapped with automatic 8 W ultraviolet light traps at three sites in the understorey and canopy of a primary forest at the La Selva Biological Station (10.4° N, 84.0° W). A total of 846 arctiid moths (148 species) and 946 geometrid moths (140 species) were analysed. Species richness and diversity of arctiid moths was significantly lower in the understorey than in the canopy (Fisher's alpha: 24 vs. 49) whereas geometrid moths showed an inverse pattern (Fisher's alpha: 44 vs. 27). This resulted in an overall increase in the proportion of conspicuously coloured species towards the canopy. Moth ensembles were clearly separated in multidimensional scaling ordinations, and differed significantly in their faunal composition and dominance between the strata. The available host plant data suggest that the flight height of moths was determined by larval resource availability. Examples include understorey flyers such as the geometrid genus Eois feeding on Piper, and canopy flyers such as the arctiid moth genera Aclytia, Macrocneme and Poliopastea which feed on lianas.     

井冈山自然保护区蛾类多样性及人为干扰的影响

对井冈山自然保护区蛾类群落的多样性及其受人为干扰的影响进行了研究。结果显示：（1）人为干扰导致井冈山自然保护区蛾类群落构成有较大差别,严重干扰导致蛾类科数明显降低;物种数和个体数呈现出随着人为干扰加强而降低的趋势;蛾类各优势科在不同人为干扰样点的相对多度存在差异。（2）人为干扰导致蛾类主要科的物种数和个体数变化不同：尺蛾科、夜蛾科、毒蛾科和舟蛾科的物种数和个体数在人为干扰下降低;轻度和中度干扰导致螟蛾科和天蛾科的物种数和个体数升高,重度干扰下物种数和个体数降低;人为干扰导致灯蛾科的物种数和苔蛾科的个体数升高。（3）人为干扰导致蛾类群落Shannon多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数降低,Berger-Parker优势度指数升高。（4）人为干扰对蛾类群落的物种数和个体数的时间动态影响较大,对Shannon指数和Pielou均匀度指数时间动态影响较小,导致Berger-Parker优势度指数时间波动幅度增大。（5）人为干扰导致样点间蛾类群落相似性较低。     

Determinants of diversity in afrotropical herbivorous insects (Lepidoptera: Geometridae): plant diversity,vegetation structure or abiotic factors?

Aim This study was conducted to investigate the potential of predicting alpha diversity and turnover rates of a highly diverse herbivorous insect family (Geometridae) based on vascular plant species richness and vegetation structure. Location The study was carried out on the south‐western slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro within a wide range of habitats between 1200 and 3150 m elevation. Methods The floristic and structural composition of the vegetation was recorded at 48 plots of 400 m². Geometrid moths were sampled manually at light sources located at the plot centres. Principal components analysis, redundancy analysis and multiple linear regression were used to explore how alpha diversity and species turnover of geometrid moths are related to vegetation structure and plant species richness. Results Alpha diversity of geometrid moths was significantly correlated with species diversity patterns in the most common vascular plant families (R² = 0.49) and with plant structural parameters (R² = 0.22), but not with overall floristic diversity. Species turnover of geometrid moths was strongly linked to diversity changes in a range of plant families (40% explained variance), less strongly to changes in vegetation physiognomy (25%), and only weakly to overall floristic diversity (5%). Changes in elevation were a better predictor of both alpha diversity and species turnover of geometrid moths than any principal component extracted from the vegetation data. Main conclusions Vegetation composition, diversity and structure all showed significant correlations with the diversity and species composition of geometrid moth assemblages. Nevertheless, in most cases relationships were indirect, via environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity, which influenced both vegetation and moth fauna. Possible direct links between geometrid diversity and potential food plants were much weaker. The lack of a significant correlation between overall plant species richness and geometrid diversity indicates that tropical geometrid moths may not be very selective in their food plant choice. Accordingly, a clear correlation between floral diversity and herbivore species richness must be regarded as overly simplistic, and the diversity of vascular plants cannot universally be used as a suitable biodiversity indicator for diverse insect taxa at higher trophic levels.     

Evaluation of pheromone-baited traps for winter moth and Bruce spanworm (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

We tested different pheromone-baited traps for surveying winter moth, Operophtera brumata (L.) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), populations in eastern North America. We compared male catch at Pherocon 1C sticky traps with various large capacity traps and showed that Universal Moth traps with white bottoms caught more winter moths than any other trap type. We ran the experiment on Cape Cod, MA, where we caught only winter moth, and in western Massachusetts, where we caught only Bruce spanworm, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), a congener of winter moth native to North America that uses the same pheromone compound [(Z,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene] and is difficult to distinguish from adult male winter moths. With Bruce spanworm, the Pherocon 1C sticky traps caught by far the most moths. We tested an isomer of the pheromone [(E,Z,Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene] that previous work had suggested would inhibit captures of Bruce spanworm but not winter moths. We found that the different doses and placements of the isomer suppressed captures of both species to a similar degree. We are thus doubtful that we can use the isomer to trap winter moths without also catching Bruce spanworm. Pheromone-baited survey traps will catch both species.     

The role of environment and mid-domain effect on moth species richness along a tropical elevational gradient

Aim The biodiversity of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) along a complete tropical elevational gradient was studied for the first time. The patterns are described, and the role of geometric constraints and environmental factors is explored. Location The study was carried out along the Barva Transect (10° N, 84° W), a complete elevational gradient ranging from 40 to 2730 m a.s.l. in Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica, and adjacent areas. Methods Moths were sampled manually in 2003 and 2004 at 12 rain forest sites using light ‘towers’, each with two 15 W ultraviolet fluorescent tubes. We used abundance‐based rarefaction, statistical estimation of true richness (Chao 1), geographically interpolated observed richness and Fisher's alpha as measures of local diversity. Results A total of 13,765 specimens representing 739 species were analysed. All four measures showed a hump‐shaped pattern with maxima between 500 and 2100 m elevation. The two subfamilies showed richness and diversity maxima at either lower (Ennominae) or higher (Larentiinae) elevation than Geometridae as a whole. Among the four environmental factors tested, relative humidity yielded the highest correlation over the transect with the rarefaction‐based richness estimates as well as with estimated true species richness of Geometridae as a whole and of Larentiinae, while rainfall explained the greatest variation of Ennominae richness. The elevational pattern of moth richness was discordant with both temperature and with tree species richness. A combination of all environmental factors in a stepwise multiple regression produced high values of r² in Geometridae. The potential effects of geometric constraints (mid‐domain effect, MDE) were investigated by comparing them with observed, interpolated richness. Overall, models fitted very well for Geometridae as a whole and for Ennominae, but less well for Larentiinae. Small‐ranged species showed stronger deviations from model predictions than large‐ranged species, and differed strikingly between the two subfamilies, suggesting that environmental factors play a more pronounced role for small‐ranged species. We hypothesize that small‐ranged species (at least of the Ennominae) may tend to be host specialists, whereas large‐ranged species tend to be polyphagous. Based on interpolated ranges, mean elevational range for these moths was larger with increasing elevation, in accordance with Rapoport's elevational rule, although sampling effects may have exaggerated this pattern. The underlying mechanism remains unknown because Rapoport's ‘rescue’ hypothesis could not explain the observed pattern. Conclusions The results clearly show that moth diversity shows a hump‐shaped pattern. However, remarkable variation exists with regard to taxon and range size. Both environmental and geometric factors are likely to contribute to the observed patterns.