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Abstract

Land use change and habitat fragmentation affect biodiversity through an increasing level of disturbance and destruction of natural habitats. The present study is the first report on species diversity, species composition, and abundance of moth fauna in and around Chebera Churchura national park. During the survey from January to June 2021, 6206 specimens were collected from 105 species and 11 families from the 3 land use types. Based on the number of species, the family Erbidae is the most abundant with 41 species, and the family Pyraldae was the least abundant with one species. Based on the number of individuals, the family Crambidae was the most abundant, with 2,474 individuals, and the least was the family Pyraldae, with 10 individuals. The most abundant species was Cyligramma latona, and Cyana abyssinica was the least. Compared to the three land use types, riverine forest had the highest diversity, with 94 species and 3592 individuals, and mosaic habitat had the lowest, with 30 species and 971 individuals. Across the survey diversity indices, riverine forest had the highest Shannon value of 4, Simpson value of 0.98, and evenness value of 0.89, while mosaic habitat had the lowest Shannon value of 3, Simpson value of 0.94, and evenness value of 0.87. The Chi-square test results showed that the diversity of moths differed significantly between the three habitats. A month-wise comparison of moth abundance showed that January was the most abundant and the least was recorded in June. The highest similarity was found between riverine forest and wooded grassland; the least was between riverine forest and mosaic habitat. Generally, the habitat was good for moth and butterfly diversity.

Article History

Received: Jun 03, 2022; Accepted: Nov 14, 2023; Published: Dec 31 2023

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