Blacklight Sheet Invertebrate Photos at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest; 2023

Quantifying Invertebrate (esp Lepidoptera) abundance at Hubbard Brook has historically relied on manual surveys of caterpillar larvae on shrub foliage, a method constrained by accessibility, field effort, and observer variability. Bucket traps later enabled calibration of relative abundance but require capturing insects and can be intrusive. Here we evaluate a reproducible and scalable monitoring approach using blacklight sheets to image invertebrate activity and estimate relative abundance without capture. The blacklight setup provides standardized nightly sampling that can be deployed efficiently across sites and time (currently across 5 sites), enabling scalable monitoring of insect presence and temporal variability. This project aims to establish a robust relationship between moth counts recorded at blacklight sheets and broader Lepidoptera abundance in the forest, supporting long-term ecological monitoring with reduced disturbance and improved repeatability. We are developing an image-based counting pipeline to quantify moth detections from blacklight photos and assess consistency across nights and locations. These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station.