The Impact of a Forest Fire Event on Moth Assemblages in Western Bohemia, Czech Republic

Abstract

Fire has major impact on species diversity in natural ecosystems around the world. The consequences of fires for invertebrates can be immediate, and recovery of species assemblages may be a long-term process. We recorded moth communities from May to November 2019 in a pine forest in Western Bohemia, Czech Republic, where a local fire occurred in April of that year. We used UV light traps at one burned site and two neighboring unburned sites with a similar character as the burned site before the fire event. We analyzed moth assemblages using several species diversity indices – index of dominance, Shannon-Wiener index and Shannon-Wiener evenness, Simpson index, and Chao1 nonparametric estimation. We detected 67 species at the burned site, and 97 and 106 at the unburned sites. The three most frequently trapped species at all sites were Macaria liturata, Buphalus piniaria and Thera obeliscata, representing common forest geometrid moths. We observed a decline in species number and abundance at the burned site compared to the unburned sites, probably due to the direct mortality of larvae. On the contrary, the burned site was more diverse according to the diversity indices. The fire disrupted the original character of the coniferous forest, which was proved by a decline of species feeding on conifers and Vaccinium spp. The burned site attracted species associated with dry habitats such as Eublemma purpurina, Charissa obscurata and Scopula rubiginata. Even though wildfires are viewed negatively in general, they might temporarily enhance diversity in a homogeneous landscape.