Measuring the impact of forest management on the structure and composition of moth communities using automatic and manual light traps

International audienceHuman-induced environmental impacts threaten global biodiversity, including temperate forestswhich have been highly altered and reduced. Despite these disturbances, temperate forests serveas biodiversity hotspots and play an important role in the conservation of declining species. Insectdecline, often overlooked, is of significant concern due to its consequences on ecosystems andhuman health. To reverse insect decline, we first need to understand the influence our activitieshave on their populations. In this regard, our study focused on the impact of the French «futaierégulière» forest management method on moth communities.First, we chose to evaluate the effect of forest management on species richness and diversity.Sampling took place using two types of automatic light traps (T-traps LepiLED and SkinnerActinic) in the forest of Tours-Larçay-les Hâtes, focusing on two contrasting plots : a naturallyevolving plot and a managed plot. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that forest managementdoes not appear to have a significant impact on the moth communities we studied.However, to confirm our results, we first had to improve upon our current biomonitoring protocol,focusing on increasing the sampling effort of micro moths which was initially insufficient. Thiswas our second step. To do so we chose to use Bioform towers along with our automatic traps.By doing so, we concluded that the “futaie régulière” forest management method has no effect onthe richness and diversity of both the macro moth and the micro moth communities located in theforest of Tours-Larçay-les Hâtes