TY - JOUR
T1 - Macro-moth (Lepidoptera) Diversity of a Newly Shaped Ecological Corridor and the Surrounding Forest Area in the Western Italian Alps
AU - Piccini, Irene
AU - Depetris, Marta
AU - Paradiso, Federica
AU - Cochis, Francesca
AU - Audisio, Michela
AU - Artioli, Patrick
AU - Smargiassi, Stefania
AU - Bonifacino, Marco
AU - Giuliano, Davide
AU - La Cava, Sara
AU - Rijllo, Giuseppe
AU - Bonelli, Simona
AU - Scalercio, Stefano
A2 - Lo Brutto, Sabrina
N1 - Funding information: This research was funded by the company TELT sas. The authors acknowledge the support of NBFC to the CREA, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, PNRR, Missione 4 Componente 2, “Dalla ricerca all’impresa”, Investimento 1.4, Project CN00000033.
PY - 2023/1/11
Y1 - 2023/1/11
N2 - In addition to the compilation of biodiversity inventories, checklists, especially if combined with abundance data, are important tools to understand species distribution, habitat use, and community composition over time. Their importance is even higher when ecological indicator taxa are considered, as in the case of moths. In this work, we investigated macro-moth diversity in a forest area (30 ha) in the Western Italian Alps, recently subjected to intense management activities. Indeed, an ecological corridor, which includes 10 clearings, has been shaped thanks to forest compensation related to the construction site of the Turin–Lyon High-Speed Railway. Here, we identified 17 patches (9 clearings and 8 forests), and we conducted moth surveys using UV–LED light traps. A total of 15,614 individuals belonging to 442 species were collected in 2020 and 2021. Two and fifteen species are new records for Piedmont and for Susa Valley, respectively. In addition to the faunistic interest of the data, this study—using a standardized method—provides geo-referenced occurrences, species-richness, and abundance values useful to compile a baseline dataset for future comparisons. Indeed, the replicable and easy shareable method allows us to make comparisons with other research and thus assess the impact of environmental changes.
AB - In addition to the compilation of biodiversity inventories, checklists, especially if combined with abundance data, are important tools to understand species distribution, habitat use, and community composition over time. Their importance is even higher when ecological indicator taxa are considered, as in the case of moths. In this work, we investigated macro-moth diversity in a forest area (30 ha) in the Western Italian Alps, recently subjected to intense management activities. Indeed, an ecological corridor, which includes 10 clearings, has been shaped thanks to forest compensation related to the construction site of the Turin–Lyon High-Speed Railway. Here, we identified 17 patches (9 clearings and 8 forests), and we conducted moth surveys using UV–LED light traps. A total of 15,614 individuals belonging to 442 species were collected in 2020 and 2021. Two and fifteen species are new records for Piedmont and for Susa Valley, respectively. In addition to the faunistic interest of the data, this study—using a standardized method—provides geo-referenced occurrences, species-richness, and abundance values useful to compile a baseline dataset for future comparisons. Indeed, the replicable and easy shareable method allows us to make comparisons with other research and thus assess the impact of environmental changes.
KW - abundance
KW - clearing
KW - diversity indexes
KW - geo-referenced occurrences
KW - Heterocera
KW - Lepidoptera
KW - species richness
KW - Susa valley
U2 - 10.3390/d15010095
DO - 10.3390/d15010095
M3 - Article
SN - 1424-2818
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Diversity
JF - Diversity
IS - 1
M1 - 95
ER -