Moth Inventory at Canopy and Ground Level, Far North Queensland Rainforest SuperSite, Robson Creek, 2010

Moth are a hyper diverse and ecologically important group and are good candidates as indicators for rapid categorisation and monitoring of habitat quality and change. Moths have been used as indicators in a variety of diferent terrestrial ecosystems, such as rainforests, temperate forests and agri-ecosystems. We sampled the moth assemblages at canopy and ground level at five sites within a 25 ha plot, at Robson Creek, Atherton. Two Pennsylvania light traps were run simultaneously on each trapping night, with one trap at ground level and one in the canopy. Vertical stratification of moth species, between the ground and canopy levels, can result in distinct ground and canopy fauna. Putting light traps at both the ground and canopy ensured the widest sampling of moth diversity (Beck et al., 2002). The preliminary results here are significant differences in the moth assemblages at the canopy and ground levels. Further analysis investigating the taxonomic composition of canopy and ground assemblages is underway.