@article {22740, title = {Spatial and temporal changes in moth assemblages along an altitudinal gradient, Jeju-do island}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {12}, year = {2022}, month = {Nov-29-2022}, pages = {20534}, chapter = {20534}, abstract = {

\"Montane species on islands attract attention due to their small and isolated populations and limited dispersal potential, making them vulnerable to extinction. We investigated the diversity pattern of moth assemblages over the 12-years-period (2009\–2020) at 11 study plots on an island mountain (Mount Hallasan, Jeju-do Island, South Korea) to assess the changes in the moth assemblages in terms of species composition, richness, and abundances. We expected to find a decline in the number of species at these sites, given the reported decline in similar taxa in other temperate regions, such as Europe and North America. In contrast, we found that the numbers of species and individuals of moth populations on the island mountain have not significantly changed, except at the high-elevation sites, where the number of species has increased. Our results also show that the numbers of species and individuals are closely related to energy availability, actual evapotranspiration. Moreover, we found that the species composition during the study period has not been greatly changed, except at the lowermost and uppermost elevations. The mechanism driving this high dissimilarity of moth assemblages differed: the low-elevation site experienced high temporal turnover, and the high elevation sites also experienced high temporal turnover and nestedness resulting from active species replacement due to a recent forest fire and vegetation changes and the geographic and ecological constraints of the high elevations. To date, the moth species diversity of the temperate forests of the island mountain is not showing a drastic change. However, we observed that the moth assemblages had changed the number of species and individuals at low and high elevations. Given the biological and ecological limitations of moths (ectothermic organisms with limited habitat range) and considering the results of our study, we infer that climate change has impacted the diversity and species composition of moths on the island mountain.\"

}, keywords = {ABUNDANCE, ALPHA DIVERSITY, BETA DIVERSITY, CHAO 1, DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, ELEVATIONAL GRADIENT, JEJU-DO, LEPIDOPTERA, RICHNESS, SOUTH KOREA, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-022-24600-z}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24600-z}, author = {Choi, S.-W. and An, J.-S. and Lee, J.-Y. and Koo, K.A.} } @article {22462, title = {Alpha and beta diversity patterns of macro-moths reveal a breakpoint along a latitudinal gradient in Mongolia.}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {11}, year = {2021}, month = {11/2021}, pages = {15018}, chapter = {15018}, abstract = {

\"Little is known about the diversity and distribution patterns of moths along latitudinal gradients. We studied macro-moths in Mongolia along an 860\ km latitudinal climatic gradient to gain knowledge on community composition, alpha, beta, and gamma diversity as well as underlying factors, which can be used as baseline information for further studies related to climate change. We identified 236 species of moths of ten families. Our study shows that the diversity of moths increased with the latitude, i.e., low species richness in the south and higher richness in the north. Moth community composition changed along the gradient, and we revealed a breakpoint of beta diversity that divided grassland and desert communities. In the desert, beta diversity was driven by species loss (i.e., nestedness), and few tolerant species existed with high abundance. In contrast, in the grassland, beta diversity was driven by species replacement with more unique species, (i.e., species which occurred only in one site). We found the lowest species diversity in the transitional zones dominated by few generalist species such as Agrotis ripae and Anarta trifolii. Low precipitation and an increasing number of grazing goats are drivers of species loss. We suggest different conservation strategies regarding the contrasting patterns of beta diversity in desert and grassland.\"

}, keywords = {ABUNDANCE, ALPHA DIVERSITY, BETA DIVERSITY, BIODIVERSITY, CALLAMBULYX, DEILEPHILA, DIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, HYLES, LAOTHOE, LATITUDINAL GRADIENT, LEPIDOPTERA, MARUMBA, MONGOLIA, RICHNESS, SMERINTHUS, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, TRAITS, WORLDMAP1}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-94471-3}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94471-3}, author = {Enkhtur, K. and Brehm, G. and Boldgiv, B. and Pfeiffer, M.} }