Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is one of the most diverse insect orders on Earth. Its members contribute to important ecosystem services such as pollination and herbivory while also serving as principal food for many other animals. Yet in this age of rapid climate change and declining biodivers...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | FACETS |
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| Online Access: | https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0298 |
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| author | Joseph J. Bowden Avalon Owens Kayla Brown Robert W. Harding Marianne Graversen Maxim Larrivée Kent McFarland Tyler A. Miller Jamie Warren Jodi O. Young |
| author_facet | Joseph J. Bowden Avalon Owens Kayla Brown Robert W. Harding Marianne Graversen Maxim Larrivée Kent McFarland Tyler A. Miller Jamie Warren Jodi O. Young |
| author_sort | Joseph J. Bowden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is one of the most diverse insect orders on Earth. Its members contribute to important ecosystem services such as pollination and herbivory while also serving as principal food for many other animals. Yet in this age of rapid climate change and declining biodiversity, the current distribution of most moth species remains largely undocumented. Here, we describe a novel and low-cost method of bridging this gap, which takes advantage of the fact that many nocturnal insects are attracted to artificial light. A robust network of “moth walls” periodically surveyed by community members serves two purposes: (1) help document moth species diversity and distribution and (2) help stakeholders engage the public about the importance of moths and other nocturnal insects. We contend that moth walls are of relevance to stakeholders interested in biodiversity data, invasive species detection, occurrence data for ranked species, and the ecology of insects attracted to light. The addition of automation and machine learning algorithms could further contribute to the capture and processing of detections across our growing network. Moth walls have already proven fruitful for monitoring and public engagement, yielding new jurisdictional records in Canada while providing local engagement opportunities for agencies and communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-51530ac7356d4e0aafafe4ae1c45c96a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2371-1671 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | FACETS |
| spelling | doaj-art-51530ac7356d4e0aafafe4ae1c45c96a2025-08-20T02:25:12ZengCanadian Science PublishingFACETS2371-16712025-01-01101610.1139/facets-2024-0298Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversityJoseph J. Bowden0Avalon Owens1Kayla Brown2Robert W. Harding3Marianne Graversen4Maxim Larrivée5Kent McFarland6Tyler A. Miller7Jamie Warren8Jodi O. Young9Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G4, CanadaThe Rowland Institute at Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USANunatuKavut Community Council, Port Hope Simpson, NL A0K 4E0, CanadaParks Canada, Prince Edward Island National Park, 2 Palmers Lane, Charlottetown, PE C1A 5V8, CanadaDepartment of Research and Collections, Natural History Museum Aarhus, Aarhus, DenmarkInsectarium de Montreal, 4581 Sherbrooke Rue E, Montreal, QC H1X 2B2, CanadaVermont Center for Ecostudies, PO Box 420, Norwich, VT 05055, USAParks Canada, Bruce Peninsula National Park & Fathom Five National Marine Park, Tobermory, ON N0H 2R0, CanadaNatural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Atlantic Forestry Centre, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G4, CanadaSchool of Science and the Environment, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G5, CanadaLepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is one of the most diverse insect orders on Earth. Its members contribute to important ecosystem services such as pollination and herbivory while also serving as principal food for many other animals. Yet in this age of rapid climate change and declining biodiversity, the current distribution of most moth species remains largely undocumented. Here, we describe a novel and low-cost method of bridging this gap, which takes advantage of the fact that many nocturnal insects are attracted to artificial light. A robust network of “moth walls” periodically surveyed by community members serves two purposes: (1) help document moth species diversity and distribution and (2) help stakeholders engage the public about the importance of moths and other nocturnal insects. We contend that moth walls are of relevance to stakeholders interested in biodiversity data, invasive species detection, occurrence data for ranked species, and the ecology of insects attracted to light. The addition of automation and machine learning algorithms could further contribute to the capture and processing of detections across our growing network. Moth walls have already proven fruitful for monitoring and public engagement, yielding new jurisdictional records in Canada while providing local engagement opportunities for agencies and communities.https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0298community sciencecitizen sciencenocturnal insectsdetection toolspublic engagement |
| spellingShingle | Joseph J. Bowden Avalon Owens Kayla Brown Robert W. Harding Marianne Graversen Maxim Larrivée Kent McFarland Tyler A. Miller Jamie Warren Jodi O. Young Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity FACETS community science citizen science nocturnal insects detection tools public engagement |
| title | Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| title_full | Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| title_fullStr | Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| title_short | Moth walls: shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| title_sort | moth walls shedding light on moth biodiversity |
| topic | community science citizen science nocturnal insects detection tools public engagement |
| url | https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0298 |
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