This award supports cooperative research between scientists of the US and Taiwan on the diversity and biology of the Lepidoptera fauna of Taiwan. This study of moths is important as a contribution to the ongoing effort to correlate moth diversity in local sites with corresponding plant associations, and to determine the feasibility of using moths as environmental indicator species in conservation areas. The compact nature of Taiwan, together with the rapid rate of its population growth pressing on the natural resources of the island, provides what may be a unique opportunity for experimentation on the theory of using moths as an environmental indicator. The goals of the project are to provide the groundwork of specimens and biological data to monograph Taiwan's Lepidoptera fauna. Information from this cooperative effort will provide detailed taxonomic studies of moths, which is expected to lay the groundwork for further experimental studies. This project involves extensive cooperation with scientists of Taiwan, and reflects a common concern about the ongoing effects of environmental changes on natural ecosystems.
