Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1998 Moth Diversity in Louisiana Longleaf Pine Savannas and Mixed Mesophytic Hardwood Forests: Species Composition and Management Effects. Deborah Landau Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Landau, Deborah, "Moth Diversity in Louisiana Longleaf Pine Savannas and Mixed Mesophytic Hardwood Forests: Species Composition and Management Effects." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6843. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6843 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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MOTH DIVERSITY IN LOUISIANA LONGLEAF PINE SAVANNAS AND MIXED MESOPHYTIC HARDWOOD FORESTS: SPECIES COMPOSITION AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTS A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in The Department of Entomology by Deborah Landau B.S., Rutgers University, 1990 M.S., University of Tennessee, 1993 December, 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9922092 UMI Microform 9922092 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my major professor, Dorothy Prowell, and my graduate advisory committee, Drs. Chris Carlton, Bill Platt and Tom Riley, whose thoughtful guidance, instruction and assistance have helped make this stage in my education and career a fulfilling and enlightening experience. I also thank Richard Martin at the Louisiana Nature Conservancy and Latimore Smith at Louisiana Natural Heritage Program of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife fix’ habitat information and help with selection of sites, and Dr. Richard Brown of the Mississippi Entomological Museum for his helpful advice and insect identifications. I am grateful to Vicky Moseley, Curator of the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, for help with my often-overwhelming moth collection, and Hester Johnson for her help with statistical analysis. I also wish to express my appreciation to Frank Guillot, Department Head, for providing this assistantship. Thanks are extended to the U. S. Forest Service, in particular Earl Stuart, Forest Service Biologist, for assistance with site selection, managed burns, and habitat information and history. I also wish to thank everyone from my lab fix’their support and friendship, and all the members of Bill Platt’s lab, who have always been willing to answer my questions, be they botanical, statistical, or what have you. Finally, I am grateful to my father, Luis Landau, whose encouragement has always allowed me to believe that I can achieve my goals, and my husband, Daniel Mills, whose patient help and loving support have made everything worthwhile. u• • Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 1 MIXED MESOFHYTIC HARDWOOD FORESTS.................................................. 4 LONGLE AF PINE SAVANNAS...............................................................................5 CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................. 9 COMPARISON OF MOTH DIVERSITY IN TWO NATURAL HABITATS IN LOUISIANA.............................................................................................................. 9 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................9 Study Sites ....................................................................................................... 10 Longleaf Pine Savanna ................................................................................. 10 Mixed Hardwood .......................................................................................... 12 MATERIALS AND METHODS.......................................................................... 13 RESULTS............................................................................................................ 15 DISCUSSION......................................................................................................27 CHAPTER2................................................................................................................ 32 INTENSIVE SHORT-TERM VERSUS LESS INTENSIVE LONG-TERM SAMPLING TO ASSESS LEPIDOPTERAN BIODIVERSITY IN A SOUTHERN MIXED MESOFHYTIC HARDWOOD FOREST.................................................. 32 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................32 MATERIALS AND METHODS..........................................................................33 RESULTS............................................................................................................ 34 DISCUSSION......................................................................................................38 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................ 43 EFFECTS OF SEASON OF BURN ON MOTH SPECIES COMPOSITION IN A LONCHEAF PINE SAVANNA...............................................................................43 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................43 MATERIALS AND METHODS..........................................................................45 Site Descriptions and Bum Histoiy ...................................................................46 RESULTS............................................................................................................49 DISCUSSION......................................................................................................60 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...........................................................................67 REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 73 APPENDIX 1. SPECIES UNIQUE TO LP1 ................................................................78 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX 2. SPECIES UNIQUE TO LP2 ............................................................... 79 APPENDIX 3. SPECIES UNIQUE TO MH1...............................................................82 APPENDIX 4. SPECIES UNIQUE TO MH2...............................................................85 APPENDIX 5. SPECIES UNIQUE TO GROWING SEASON BURN SITES (1996 AND 1997) .................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX 6. SPECIES UNIQUE TO DORMANT SEASON BURN SITES (1996 AND 1997) .................................................................................................................