Decorah moths spark Luther student's research

A Luther College senior has studied moth communities in the planted tallgrass prairie and oak-hickory forest habitats of Decorah and says she has made some discoveries.  Lena Schmitt partnered with Luther biology professor Kirk Larsen to visit six different sites in Decorah, collecting moths to assemble baseline information of the species of moths in Decorah.

Schmitt says the most important component of her research is the discovery of the importance of the diversity of the moths.  She says diversity is a good indicator of environment health. For example, if there is an invasive species within their ecosystem, such as the European buckthorn or garlic mustard, moth diversity and abundance can be significantly reduced.

Schmitt will be presenting the results of her work at the 2019 Day of Insects conference in Ames and at the 2019 national meeting of the Entomological Society of America in St. Louis.