Academic Bibliography

 Search 200 years of publications by Ghent University researchers.
Advanced search
2 files | 4.01 MB
Add to list
  1. Search results
  2. Negative effects of forest edges and ...

Negative effects of forest edges and canopy opening on moth communities

Pieter Vangansbeke (UGent) , Pallieter De Smedt (UGent) , Cyr Mestdagh, Sanne Govaert, Camille Meeussen, Thomas Vanneste (UGent) , Dries Bonte, Kim Calders (UGent) , Jonathan Lenoir, Fabien Spicher, et al.
(2025) FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT. 585.
Author
Organization
Project
Abstract
Forest loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services worldwide. Forest fragmentation leads to the creation of forest edges, which experience contrasting environmental conditions compared to forest interiors, inducing a strong change in biological communities. In addition, forest management interventions, such as thinning influence canopy opening, microclimate and strongly alter the structural environment of vegetation. Moths are a species-rich and functionally important taxonomic group because of their role in plant pollination and as bulk food for other species. Here we studied the effects of canopy structure and edge-to-interior gradients on macro-moth communities using light traps in Belgium and northern France. We found that forest edges had lower abundance of moths (a modeled reduction of 46 %) and lower species richness (-29 %) than forest interiors. Open stands had an overall lower abundance of moths compared to more closed stands (-17 %). Moreover, the interaction between forest structure and edge effect was significant, indicating stronger reductions of moth abundance towards the edge in open forest (-57 % vs 􀀀 37 % in dense forest). Both local environmental variables and landscape variables explained the observed patterns, e.g., nighttime temperature of the plot and forest cover in the surrounding landscape both had a positive effect on moth activity density and species richness. We found limited evidence that moth species traits explained the observed edge-to-interior disparities, although species with larvae feeding on shrubs and trees tended to be more associated with forest cores than grass and herb feeders. Our results indicate the importance of functional forest interior habitat and relatively undisturbed forests with a high structural complexity for moth conservation.
Keywords
Edge effects, Forest management, Forest specialists, Fragmentation, Lepidoptera, Micro-climate, Species traits, Q-ForestLab, LEPIDOPTERA, LIGHT, BIODIVERSITY, TEMPERATURE, LANDSCAPES, MANAGEMENT, RICHNESS, WOODLAND, PATTERNS, IMPACT

Downloads

  • Download
    Vangansbeke etal 2025 ForestEcolMang.pdf
    • full text (Accepted manuscript)
    • |
    • open access
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 1.13 MB
  • Download
    (...).pdf
    • full text (Published version)
    • |
    • UGent only
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 2.88 MB

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Vangansbeke, Pieter, et al. “Negative Effects of Forest Edges and Canopy Opening on Moth Communities.” FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, vol. 585, 2025, doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122661.
APA
Vangansbeke, P., De Smedt, P., Mestdagh, C., Govaert, S., Meeussen, C., Vanneste, T., … De Frenne, P. (2025). Negative effects of forest edges and canopy opening on moth communities. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122661
Chicago author-date
Vangansbeke, Pieter, Pallieter De Smedt, Cyr Mestdagh, Sanne Govaert, Camille Meeussen, Thomas Vanneste, Dries Bonte, et al. 2025. “Negative Effects of Forest Edges and Canopy Opening on Moth Communities.” FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122661.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Vangansbeke, Pieter, Pallieter De Smedt, Cyr Mestdagh, Sanne Govaert, Camille Meeussen, Thomas Vanneste, Dries Bonte, Kim Calders, Jonathan Lenoir, Fabien Spicher, Quentin Ponette, Haben Blondeel, Eva DeCock, Karen De Pauw, Wim De Schuyter, Els Dhiedt, Michael P. Perring, Pieter Sanczuk, Sanne Van Den Berge, and Pieter De Frenne. 2025. “Negative Effects of Forest Edges and Canopy Opening on Moth Communities.” FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 585. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122661.
Vancouver
1.
Vangansbeke P, De Smedt P, Mestdagh C, Govaert S, Meeussen C, Vanneste T, et al. Negative effects of forest edges and canopy opening on moth communities. FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT. 2025;585.
IEEE
[1]
P. Vangansbeke et al., “Negative effects of forest edges and canopy opening on moth communities,” FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, vol. 585, 2025.
@article{01JPXK97TMJK4HEKSHB88WGQDR,
  abstract     = {{Forest loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services worldwide.
Forest fragmentation leads to the creation of forest edges, which experience contrasting environmental conditions
compared to forest interiors, inducing a strong change in biological communities. In addition, forest
management interventions, such as thinning influence canopy opening, microclimate and strongly alter the
structural environment of vegetation. Moths are a species-rich and functionally important taxonomic group
because of their role in plant pollination and as bulk food for other species. Here we studied the effects of canopy
structure and edge-to-interior gradients on macro-moth communities using light traps in Belgium and northern
France. We found that forest edges had lower abundance of moths (a modeled reduction of 46 %) and lower
species richness (-29 %) than forest interiors. Open stands had an overall lower abundance of moths compared to
more closed stands (-17 %). Moreover, the interaction between forest structure and edge effect was significant,
indicating stronger reductions of moth abundance towards the edge in open forest (-57 % vs 􀀀 37 % in dense
forest). Both local environmental variables and landscape variables explained the observed patterns, e.g.,
nighttime temperature of the plot and forest cover in the surrounding landscape both had a positive effect on
moth activity density and species richness. We found limited evidence that moth species traits explained the
observed edge-to-interior disparities, although species with larvae feeding on shrubs and trees tended to be more
associated with forest cores than grass and herb feeders. Our results indicate the importance of functional forest
interior habitat and relatively undisturbed forests with a high structural complexity for moth conservation.}},
  articleno    = {{122661}},
  author       = {{Vangansbeke, Pieter and De Smedt, Pallieter and Mestdagh, Cyr and Govaert, Sanne and Meeussen, Camille and Vanneste, Thomas and Bonte, Dries and Calders, Kim and Lenoir, Jonathan and Spicher, Fabien and Ponette, Quentin and Blondeel, Haben and DeCock, Eva and De Pauw, Karen and De Schuyter, Wim and Dhiedt, Els and Perring, Michael P. and Sanczuk, Pieter and Van Den Berge, Sanne and De Frenne, Pieter}},
  issn         = {{0378-1127}},
  journal      = {{FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT}},
  keywords     = {{Edge effects,Forest management,Forest specialists,Fragmentation,Lepidoptera,Micro-climate,Species traits,Q-ForestLab,LEPIDOPTERA,LIGHT,BIODIVERSITY,TEMPERATURE,LANDSCAPES,MANAGEMENT,RICHNESS,WOODLAND,PATTERNS,IMPACT}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{10}},
  title        = {{Negative effects of forest edges and canopy opening on moth communities}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122661}},
  volume       = {{585}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}
Altmetric
View in Altmetric
Web of Science
Times cited: