Moths versus Bees: Contrasts in Habitat Preferences Across Barrens of the Northeastern USA.

ABSTRACT: Bees and moths are globally important pollinators. Xeric barrens in the largely mesic northeastern USA support high levels of pollinator diversity, including rare bees and moths. We investigated the response of bee vs. moth communities to abiotic and vegetation drivers in barrens across the region. We sampled local environmental conditions, vegetation, bees, and moths for 2-4 years in 19 preserves. Employing random forest analysis, we tested the role of 29 abiotic and vegetation predictors of bee vs. moth abundance, species richness, Shannon-Wiener Index, evenness, and species composition. Variables related to climate, canopy cover, and soils were the most important predictors of abundance, diversity, and species composition for both bees and moths. Vegetation variables, such as species ri

SUBMITTER: Barton AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11560292 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature