The Effect of Coal Surface Mine Reclamation on Diurnal Lepidopteran Conservation

Diurnal lepidopteran and vegetational communities were surveyed on 18 reclaimed coal surface-mined sites and five reference, hardwood sites in south-western Virginia. Comparison of lepidopteran communities using detrended correspondence analysis suggested that lepidopteran community composition on later-successional reclaimed sites was approaching that of the surrounding hardwoods. Diurnal moth species richness and abundance increased with time since reclamation, whereas butterfly species richness and abundance decreased. Diurnal moth communities were better indicators of vegetational community composition and species richness than were butterfly communities. While most lepidopteran species commonly found in the hardwoods were recorded in later-successional reclaimed sites, a number of less common species were not observed in them. Therefore, the success of mine reclamation in restoring the full complement of lepidopteran species native to hardwood forest in this region is debatable and further consideration must be given to the long-term effects of current mine reclamation practices.