From forest to fragment: compositional differences inside coastal forest moth assemblages and their environmental...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Landscape Ecology

Background:

• Community assembly is shaped by ecological drift and environmental factors.
• Habitat and landscape scales influence biodiversity patterns.
• Mediterranean coastal pine forests are fragmented, impacting ecological processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the relative importance of habitat- versus landscape-scale factors on insect beta-diversity.
• To analyze moth assemblages in two reserve fragments with differing landscape contexts.
• To understand the drivers of community differentiation and proportional diversity.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 23,870 light-trap records from 392 moth species.
• Comparison of multiple local and landscape metrics across 30 sites per reserve.
• Assessment of beta-diversity (differentiation and proportional) in relation to environmental factors.

Main Results:

• Moth assemblage composition differed significantly between fragments, influenced by ecological drift and landscape variation.
• Local forest structure was crucial for proportional beta-diversity, causing homogenization or heterogenization.
• Both local (soil humidity, nutrients, forest structure) and landscape factors (urban proximity, human-altered land) significantly impacted differentiation beta-diversity.

Conclusions:

• Landscape-scale anthropogenic alterations profoundly affect moth communities within conservation areas.
• Local habitat conditions and landscape context interact to shape biodiversity.
• Community change trajectories within forest fragments can be idiosyncratic despite shared history.