Title

Long-term (2005–2017) macromoth community monitoring at Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea

Authors

Sei-Woong Choi^1*, Jeong-Seop An², Nang-Hee Kim¹, Sanghun Lee², Nahyun Ahn ²

¹Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Muan, Jeonnam, Korea

²National Institute of Ecology, Seocheon, Chungnam, Korea

*Correspondence

Sei-Woong Choi, Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Muan, Jeonnam 58554, South Korea

Email: choisw@mokpo.ac.kr

ABSTRACT

Moths, which are one of the mega-diversity insect groups, play important roles as herbivores in terrestrial ecosystems. Because most moths are nocturnal and easily attracted to lights, the utilization of consistent and uniform sampling methods based on a set of standardized protocols can lead to creation of comparable datasets on regional to global scales. These datasets can be used to address environmental issues such as the biological impacts resulting from climate change and land-use policies. More than 60% of the Korean peninsula is mountainous, and the forests on most mountains are undergoing marked changes related to forest succession and recent climatic variability. Therefore, the present study was conducted to monitor macromoth communities in a mountain ecosystem of Korea. Our study site, Mt. Jirisan National Park is the first national park and the highest mountain on the mainland of South Korea. This mountain range runs 34 km east to west and 26 km north to south, harboring more than 1,400 vascular plant and more than 3,000 insect species. We monitored macromoth communities at six sites in Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea from 2005 to 2017, during which time moths were collected from May to October using an ultraviolet bucket trap. The generated dataset, which contains 1,089 species and 40,694 individuals in 20 families, can be used to establish a baseline for development of a network-oriented database to assess the temporal and spatial changes of moths in temperate and tropical forests and the biotic impact of environmental change.

Keywords. Macromoths, Diversity, Mt. Jirisan, Long-term monitoring, South Korea

INTRODUCTION

Insects comprise approximately two-thirds of the known groups of organisms in the world and are considered good surrogates for ecosystem change because they are abundant, diverse, and easily adapt to different environmental conditions (Samways, 1994). Among insects, moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) comprise a mega-diversity group of more than 180,000 species worldwide that are noteworthy for their wings, which are often vividly colored and have diverse forms, facilitating identification. This group serves as major herbivores, linking primary producers and consumers in terrestrial ecosystems (Scoble, 1992).

More than 60% of the Korean peninsula is mountainous, but the forests on most mountains in the peninsula are homogeneously young, with nearly 73% of the total forested area being less than 30 years old, and more than half of the forested area being covered with mixed conifer and deciduous trees (Korea Forest Service, 2011). Mountain habitats are spatially and structurally complex when trees and larger shrubs form part of the landscape, producing a mosaic of different habitat types with their own particular vegetation and/or microclimate characteristics (Haslett, 1997; Hodkinson, 2005). Utilization of such mosaic patches by different plants and animals including insects may reflect their specific life history strategies and ability to exploit a particular type of habitat more than the total taxonomic diversity present at a particular location (Haslett, 1997; Hodkinson, 2005). However, the recent increase in climatic variability, such as stronger and more frequent typhoons and extended droughts has severely affected mountain forests. The coupled effects of young forest succession and unpredictable environmental impacts on mountain forests are indicative of a need for continuous ecological monitoring of plants and animals including moths.

The present study was conducted to monitor long-term changes in moth communities in a mountain ecosystem of Korea. Long-term ecological monitoring, through systematic and regular collection of field data, is conducted to identify key ecological processes that produce spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution, abundance, and diversity of biota as well as causal factors underpinning environmental problems (Lindenmayer et al., 2012). International networks of long-term ecological monitoring can provide a baseline dataset to assess global issues such as biodiversity loss, global warming and desertification. However, conducting long-term ecological monitoring on a global scale becomes challenging if a standardized sampling method is not available or limited to employ. Moths are well suited for international collaboration in long-term ecological monitoring because most species are nocturnal and easily attracted in large numbers to standardized light traps (Choi & Miller, 2013; Wieser, 1987–1996). For example, Choi & Miller (2013) showed a similar pattern of moth species richness and abundance from a long-term intercontinental collaboration using standardized repeated measures at 12 sites from South Korea and the northwestern United States.

Long-term data can help elucidate how human-induced change is affecting our biota. Information gathered from long-term monitoring can be included in early alerting systems that could warn scientists of the types and sizes of changes that are of significant concern and could catalyze political and management actions to retard or prevent adverse changes (Lindenmayer et al., 2012; Spellerberg, 2005). Dirzo et al. (2014) and Hallmann et al. (2017) reported marked declines in local species abundance during recent decades, which could be indicative of the usefulness of long-term monitoring data.

The present study recorded the results of sampling of macromoth communities at six sites in Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea over a period of 13 years (2005–2017)(Figure 1). The dataset contains 1,089 species and 40,694 individuals in 20 families (Figure 2). We expect that this dataset, once it is publicly available, this dataset will contribute to future research into changes in insect biodiversity and communities. Additionally, this dataset will serve as baseline data for a global network to track changes in species richness and abundance.

METADATA

1. TITLE

Long-term (2005–2017) macromoth community monitoring at Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea

2. IDINTIFIER

ERDP-2019-02

3. CONTRIBUTER

A. Dataset Owner

B. Dataset creators

Sei-Woong Choi, Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Korea

Jeong-Seop An, National Institute of Ecology, Korea

Nang-Hee Kim, Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Korea

Sanghun Lee, National Institute of Ecology, Korea

Nahyun Ahn, National Institute of Ecology, Korea

C. Principal investigator

Sei-Woong Choi, Department of Environmental Education, Mokpo National University, Korea

4. PROJECT

A. Title:

Long-term (2005–2017) macromoth community monitoring at Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea

B. Funding:

Ministry of Environment of Korea (2005–2010)

National Institute of Ecology, Korea (2015–2017)

National Research Foundation of Korea (2011–2017)

C. Objectives:

Korea National Long-Term Ecological Monitoring (KNLTER) Program, sponsored by the Ministry of Environment of Korea, initiated in 2004. The program aimed to track ecological responses from global and local environmental changes over long-term periods. This program collected ecological data by establishing 20 research sites covering 80 topics related to terrestrial, freshwater, coastal ecosystem and animal ecology (Kim et al., 2011). However, the program was stopped in 2013 and the scheme has been changed. Since 2015, the program has been succeeded by the National Institute of Ecology, Korea and divided into two schemes, Long-Term Ecological Research and Climate change research for ecosystems. The former program is mainly focused on energy flow and nutrient cycling at core study sites, while the latter targets long-term biotic responses from climate change at terrestrial, aquatic and island ecosystems.

The moth monitoring program at Mt. Jirisan National Park was included in the KNLTER program since moths comprise a well-known insect group and are major primary consumers in terrestrial ecosystem. Since 2005, moth monitoring at Mt. Jirisan National Park has been conducted continuously by the KNLTER program (2005–2010), as well as by research projects from the National Research Foundation, Korea (2010–2017) and from National Institute of Ecology, Korea (2016–2017).

5. GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

A. Geographic position (based on WGS84)

Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea (Figure 1)

Table 1. Geographic position and elevation of six study sites at Mt. Jirisan National Park, Korea.

Figure 1. Map of study sites at Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea. Each site name refers to Table 1.

6. TEMPORAL COVERAGE

A. Begin:

2005

B. End:

2017

C. Monitoring interval

Monthly from May to October

Figure 2. Annual changes (2005–2017) in total number of species (a) and total number of individuals (b) at all six sites in Mt. Jirisan National Park, South Korea.

7. TAXONOMIC COVERAGE

Moths in the dataset included 20 Lepidopteran families: Bombycidae, Brahmaeidae, Cossidae, Cyclidiidae, Drepanidae, Endomidae, Epiplemidae, Erebidae, Euteliidae, Geometridae, Lasiocampidae, Limacodidae, Noctuidae, Nolidae, Notodontidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Thyrididae, Uraniidae, and Zygaenidae.

8. METHODS

A. Study sites

Mt. Jirisan National Park (highest peak: 1,915 m, area: 440.52 km²) is the first national park and the highest mountain on the mainland of South Korea (Figure 1). The mountain range runs 34 km east to west and 26 km north to south in the southwestern part of Korea, forming a dispersal barrier of Palearctic and Oriental biogeographical components (Chung et al., 2016; Chung et al., 2018) and a hotspot that comprised more than 1,400 vascular plants and more than 3,000 insects (Jang et al., 2007). Its geographic location and altitudinal difference from the majority of mainland Korea have encouraged many studies on the altitudinal distribution of species richness.

The annual average temperature of the mountainous area in Mt. Jirisan National Park is 12℃–13℃ and the average annual precipitation is 1,200 mm, most of which occurs during summer. The vegetation in the park can be divided into three main zones: subalpine (> 1,400 m), cool temperate (400–1,400 m), and warm temperate (200–300m in southern aspect sites) (Yim & Kim, 1992). The subalpine zone is characterized by coniferous (Abies koreana Wilson, Abies nephrolepisv Maximowicz, Picea jezoensis (Sieb. & Zucc.) Carriere, Pinus koraiensis Sieb. & Zucc. and Taxas cuspidate Sieb. & Zucc.) and deciduous (Betula ermani Chamisso, Betula costata Trautvetter, Quercus mongolica Fischer, and Rhododendron schlippenbachii Maxim.) trees. Below the subalpine zone, the forest is predominantly compose of deciduous trees such as Q. mongolica, Quercus serrata Thunberg, Carpinus laxiflora (Sieb. & Zucc.) Blume, Carpinus tschonoskii Maxim., Quercus aliena Blume, and Quercus variabilis Blume. Trees such as Pinus densiflora Sieb. & Zucc., Cornus controversa Hemsley, Zelkova serrata (Thunberg) Makino, and Fraxinux mandshurica Ruprecht are also commonly observed on ridges and in valleys at low altitudes.

Vegetation in the study area largely comprised conifer and diverse hardwood deciduous trees with little understory vegetation because of the dense canopy cover (Table 2). The Cheon-eun-sa temple area (CE) was composed primarily of conifer trees, P. densiflora, P. rigida, and Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) and deciduous trees such as Styrax japonicas Siebold & Zucc. and Prunus sargentii Rehder. The Ban-seon village area (BS) contained the following deciduous trees: Q. serrata, Q. variabilis, S. japonicus, Euonymus alatus f. striatus (Thunb.) Kitag., Morus bombycis Koidz, Rhus trichocarpa Miq, Ilex macropoda Miq., Lindera erythrocarpa Makino and Lindera obtusiloba Blume. The Sang-seon-am hermitage area (SSA) contained deciduous trees: C. tschonoskii, Q. serrata, S. japonicus, Stewartia pseudocamellia Maxim. and Fagus engleriana Seemen ex Diels. The Ham-yang village area (HY) was composed of the conifer tree, P. koraiensis and deciduous trees, L. obtusiloba, L. erythrocarpa, Staphylea bumalda DC. and Ulmus parvifolia Jacq. The Abies koreana forest (AK) was mainly composed of the conifer tree A. koreana, and deciduous trees, Q. mongolica, Acer pseudo-sieboldianum (Pax) Kom. and R. schippenbachii. The Quercus mongolica forest (QM) was mainly comprised of the deciduous trees Q. mongolica, R. schippenbachii, Tilia amurensis Rupr. and Symplocos chinensis for. pilosa (Nakai) Ohwi.

Table 2. Dominant tree species of six study sites in Mt. Jirisan National Park, Korea.

B. Sampling methods

A light bucket trap that included a 22 W ultraviolet light with a 12 V battery (BioQuip Co., USA) was used to collect insects at each survey site (Ricketts et al., 2002) (Figure 3). Moths were collected once a month from May to October each year during the period of 2005–2017. To reduce inter-site variations caused by weather or moonlight on moth catches in each trap, we sampled macromoths simultaneously at each of the six sites. Moth sampling was conducted from 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. local time. The moth samples were kept in a plastic container and transferred to the laboratory of Mokpo National University, where moth identification was made.

Figure 3. UV bucket trap for collecting moths. (a) Bucket, lid, funnel, 22 W circline black light tube, timer set box, yellow Dichlorovos strips in a plastic bag, (b) Timer set box with twin timer set and DC 12 V battery, (c) UV light of bucket trap in operation.

C. Taxonomy and systematics

Moth identification and taxonomy referred to Kim et al. (2001), Kononenko et al. (1998), Shin (2001), Kishida (2011) and Hirowatari et al. (2013).

9. DATA STATUS

Latest Update: January 15, 2019

Data were collected during May to October of each year from 2005 to 2017. During this period, the same sampling, identification, and counting methods were used. The database was updated whenever new data were collected.

10. DATA STRUCTURE

A. Data tables

B. Format type

All data files are in ASCII text and comma-delimited (csv) formats.

C. Header Information

In the data files, the first row of each column represents the name of the variable.

D. Definitions of variables

Table 2. Variable name and definitions in each file.

11. ACCESSIBILITY

License

This dataset (https://archive.org/details/JirisanData) is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode).

12. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to all members of the Environmental Ecology Laboratory of Mokpo National University for their assistance in the field. We thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. This study was supported by a project from the National Institute of Ecology (NIE-2018-21) and a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (2018R1D1A1B07046637).

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