A georeferenced dataset of nocturnal macrolepidoptera: A tool for forest management and biodiversity conservation

Stefano Scalercio; Carlo Di Marco; Nicola Puletti

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2022.107882

A georeferenced dataset of nocturnal macrolepidoptera: A tool for forest management and biodiversity conservation

Data Brief. 2022 Jan 28:41:107882. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.107882. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Authors

Stefano Scalercio¹, Carlo Di Marco¹, Nicola Puletti²

Affiliations

¹ Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Via Settimio Severo 83, Rende I-87036, Italy.
² Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Viale Santa Margherita 80, Arezzo I-52100, Italy.

Abstract

In this paper we provide a georeferenced dataset of raw data concerning occurrence and abundance of nocturnal macrolepidoptera, an insect group largely recognized as a good ecological indicator of forest ecosystems. Data have been collected by using light traps located in 15 beech and 20 Calabrian black pine forest lots, 20 of which included in Natura 2000 sites. The sampling was carried out monthly lasting from May to late October 2019 and 2020 in order to cover the entire period during which favourable conditions for adult monitoring occurred, and to encompass phenological changes occurring across seasons in moth diversity. The dataset is composed by a total of 42,834 individuals belonging to 363 species. Due to the relatively small attractive radius of used light traps (about 25 m), georeferenced lepidopteran data can be easily correlated to any kind of spatial environmental variables and forest attributes and to their temporal variations being useful to quantify also the effects of long-term ecological drivers.

Keywords: Beech; Italy; Lepidoptera; Natura 2000 network; Pine; Sila National Park.