Woodland Management for Moths

Hi I'm Dave Shenton and I'm County Moth Recorder for Kent and here today to talk about woodland management for the magnificent moths that will be living there. So pretty much wherever your woodland is in the UK you are going to have hundreds and hundreds of moth species living within it. Obviously it depends on the makeup of that wood and we'll go into more detail about that in a little while. So moths are one of the most diverse set of species in the world and we have an incredible diversity here in the UK. We have a little over 2,500 species which have been recorded at one time or another in the UK. So good woodland management for moths in the UK is focused on maintaining habitat diversity, maintaining structural diversity and it's also about knowing what you have as well so that you can tailor that management. So structural diversity is really important in your woodland. Moths will use all areas of the woodland from the high canopy through to the mid-level, the shrub level and right down to the ground flora and even beyond that into the leaf litter and in the ground. So it's important to consider management of those various levels across your site if you're going to do the best you can for the moths that are living there. And with such a diverse moth fauna which many have specialized needs for the food plant for their larvae for example, if you can encourage the widest plant diversity possible in your woodland then you're going to be creating a home that supports a greater number of moths, butterflies and of many other animals as well. It's important to focus on native plant and tree species so we want oak, we want willow, we want hawthorn, we want aspen, those native species that many moth larvae will rely on for their larvae to feed and develop. And the ground flora is really important both as plants that will be the direct larval food plants for many species of moths but also this is where you can help provide good nectar sources. Many moths will rely on those nectar sources as adults to be able to thrive and to reproduce. A very traditional woodland management technique is coppicing of course. Many woodlands have fallen out of that management so if that's the case if you can consider reintroducing some sensitive coppicing on rotation then you'll be really improving that habitat. The ground flora will respond amazingly so you'll get all those lovely nectar rich plants appearing and again the diversity of the moth fauna and many others will increase. And within those coppice areas it's important to identify those standard trees that you're going to retain. So for example if you've got an extensive sweet chestnut coppice within there there might be some nice oak tree specimens and they're perfect to retain as those standards to give that diversity within that coppiced area. So butterflies and moths they're all Lepidoptera, they're in the same family and here we can often refer to a management of butterfly ride techniques so they apply equally to moths. It's around widening some of the rides to allowing more sunlight in some areas but again we want the mix, we want the mosaic, we want sunlit areas, we want shaded areas so you've got that contrast. Other important areas to consider is how you manage deadwood and leaf litter in your woodland. So there are many larvae for moths that will feed directly on dead and rotting wood both standing and in log piles but also you have a number of moth species where the larvae actually feed within the fungi that will be growing on that deadwood as well. And it's about any management whatever it is being sensitive and considerate of what you have present, what species you may have and avoid some practices that could be quite damaging. So try and avoid large-scale clear felling, do things on rotation, do packets year after year so that you've got a continuity of habitat of different stages which again is really beneficial. And avoid the use of pesticides where you possibly can and if there's something that does require such intervention then really minimize the areas where you would need to apply such things because it could cause damage to the moth fauna as well as other animals as well living there. And timing of management practices is also an important consideration. With moths it's difficult because there are moths that are living, breeding, feeding in your woodland 365 days a year so there's no real down season for them but avoiding the spring and summer months so into the autumn and early winter are perhaps some of the best times for significant management intervention in your woodland. And of course moths are very mobile so it's known that some moth species will move miles even in any one night but fragmentation of habitats or scattered woodlands that can pose a problem for them so if you've got land outside your woodland as well where you may have meadows, hedgerows consider sensitive management of those as well because they can produce fantastic landscape connectivity that allows those moths to spread around the landscape. So I hope you've enjoyed this video today and found it helpful. If you have any questions or would like any further information please don't hesitate to get in touch and you can do that via the comments section underneath the video and I will monitor those and respond when I can.