Moth assemblages in Costa Rica rain forest mirror small‐scale topographic heterogeneity

In many tropical lowland rainforests, topographic variation increases environmental heterogeneity thus contributing to the extraordinary biodiversity of tropical lowland forests. While a growing number of studies have addressed effects of topographic differences on tropical insect communities at regional scales (e.g., along extensive elevational gradients), surprisingly little is known about topographic effects at smaller spatial scales. The present study investigates moth assemblages in a topographically heterogeneous lowland rainforest landscape, at distances of less than a few hundred meters, in the Golfo Dulce region (SW Costa Rica). Three moth lineages – Erebidae-Arctiinae (tiger and lichen moths), the bombycoid-complex, and Geometridae (inchworm moths) – were examined by means of automatic light traps in three different forest types: creek forest, slope forest, and ridge forest. Altogether, 6543 individuals of 419 species were observed. Moth assemblages differed significantly betw...