About This Project

I am studying the relationship between moths and plants in prescribed burned and unburned meadows at the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve under the hypothesis that moth species' richness and abundance is driven by vegetation recovery post-fire. This research is important because it seeks to understand the impacts of fire on sensitive invertebrates in the face of anthropogenic climate change, and identify bioindicator moth species that land managers can survey for.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Summer of 2024 saw an unprecedented wildfire burn through the entirety of the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve in Butte County. Invertebrate communities are especially vulnerable to major environmental disturbances, particularly as it relates to the recovery and succession of plants (Tarbill et al., 2023). Insects play a variety of essential ecosystem roles such as nutrient cycling, biological control via parasitism, decomposition, and both direct and indirect pollination (Didham et al., 1996), suggesting their potential as ecological indicators for environmental monitoring (Chowdhury et al., 2023). There is increasing evidence suggesting that moths are effective bioindicators, though in some areas, moth populations remain to be under-surveyed. Surveying moth populations post-fire, in conjunction with plant recovery, can provide essential information about how an ecosystem is recovering from a disturbance (Choi, 2018).

What is the significance of this project?

As anthropogenic climate change progresses, there is increased risk for large environmental disturbances, with California at heightened risk of wildfire. Plant, and invertebrate communities in turn, are evidenced to be highly sensitive to fire disturbances (Tarbill et al., 2023), putting the entire recovery of an ecosystem in peril. In order to protect these sensitive communities, it is important that we survey and identify who is at risk, and how they respond to disturbance by fire.

This study serves to survey for and create a record of moth populations at the Big Chico Ecological Reserve, evaluating their concordant relationship to plant recovery and overall levels of biodiversity.

What are the goals of the project?

The funds will be used to purchase the equipment necessary to survey moth populations and properly prepare them for deposit in the CSU Chico invertebrate museum. Additionally, plants will be collected and deposited at the CSU Chico Ahart Herbarium. Both collections are meant to bolster the record of California species.

Surveys are set to begin in January of 2026. We will assemble standard moth bucket light traps that will be left overnight at burned and unburned meadow plots, attracting moths that will be then collected, prepared as specimens, and identified to species. Plants will also be collected at these sites, pressed, and properly mounted and preserved.

This study also aims to identify potential environmental bioindicator species that land managers can easily survey for.