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Methods and Recommendations for the Planning of Biodiversity Surveys and Monitoring of Firefly Species.

Poster · August 2014

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1150.0406

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Raphaël De Cock José Ramón Guzmán-Álvarez

University of Antwerp
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 Methods and Recommendations for the Planning of Biodiversity Surveys and
Monitoring of Firefly Species
De Cock, Raphaël1 ; Guzmán Álvarez, José
INTRODUCTION
Fireflies, although very popular with the public, are not often the topic of
survey studies.
Our knowledge about the distribution, phenology
biodiversity of most lampyrids stays usually poorly known.
 WHY? This is probably due to the fact that the common public -
although interested :
• Is not aware about the presence of different species
• does not know how to differentiate between them
• does not know how and where to report sightings
Small or large scale survey studies might provide valuable data. Long-term
monitoring studies may even provide supportive data to confirm, or not, the
supposed decline of certain lampyrid species.
Although surveys have been organised these last decades, however:
• usually these focus on one species only
• are performed only once or on a very irregular basis
• focus regionally very local
Often data stay scattered, are published in unknown local journals, or on
the weblog of some “lonely” firefly enthusiast. On the hand, international
online forums where the public can upload their biodiversity data
(e.g. http://observado.org/ ) and some promising and successful
nationwide web-based firefly survey projects do exist now. These sites
provide detailed species information.
Such projects could ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GO FIREFLY
WATCHING IN MORE ORGANISED WAYS, for example by monitoring in
their gardens or by genuinely surveying nature areas, while they have
access to their own data and visualize distribution maps by help of such
websites. The gathered data are standardised in databases and available
for scientific studies, analysis and SPECIES STATUS EVALUATION.
OBJECTIVE
To offer recommendations and proposals for the planning of firefly
surveys and monitoring studies:
• How TO START?
• Which TECHNIQUES to use to cover as many as possible species or
life stages?
• What kind of DATA TO NOTE DOWN
The idea is that surveys can be easily done by any enthusiast or
researcher by adopting firefly friendly techniques (releasing catches,
eventually keeping voucher specimens in cases of doubt).
View publication stats
1 Associate
Ramón2 Researcher, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Belgium (rdecock@hotmail.com)
2 Project “¿Has visto una luciérnaga?” www.gusanosdeluz.es, Spain (gusanosdeluz@gmail.com)
PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
(1) Hints for the selection of survey sites (for unstructured monitoring, species surveys) :
 Browsing maps (e.g. paper maps, Googlemaps or BINGmaps) for interesting
and local locations and habitats: moist habitat, vegetated stream valleys, swamps, mosaic
wooded-agricultural landscapes, nature areas, isolated old habitats e.g. graveyards,
abandonned railroad tracks, etc.
(2) selection of transects (fixed or not) and/or (fixed or not) trap locations with repeated
nighttime and/or daytime visits throughout the year (e.g. twice in April till September
to cover adults of all species, and Winter months for spotting glowing larvae in
Southern Europe)
(3) The use of mixed techniques:
a. Nighttime transect walks (spotting adult, larval or pupal glows and flashes)
b. Daytime transect walks for diurnal species: sweep netting, hand catches and
attention for typical hideouts of adults, larvae and pupae of diurnal + nocturnal
spp. (under stones, leaf litter, wood, etc.)
c. Light lures, or firefly-friendly funnel bottle traps: using LEDs or fainter
glowing Betalights (www.betalights.nl) as lures to attract males of glowing
species (Knüsel 2005; Riesen et al. 2011; Ineichen & Rüttiman 2012), or traps
with programmed flashing LEDs to mimic flash responses of selected species of
flashing fireflies.
d. Techniques for particular (diurnal) species: (a) pitfall (pheromone) traps for
diurnal species = dug-in-the-soil funnel pitfall traps around a recipient with a live
female (e.g. raised from caught larvae); (b) night walks looking for larval glows;
(c) specialized traps for subterranean habitats (Ortuño et al. 2013) can also help
to discover less retrievable species.
 We kindly offer our help and input if you plan to set-up a firefly survey! (contact: rdecock@hotmail.com)
Full references in: De cock & Guzmán Álvarez 2013. Methods and recommendations for surveying firefly glow-worms (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): a
practical example from Southern Spain Lampyrid 2013 3: 49-95
MONITORING & SURVEYS
Up till now Lampyridae are not considered policy-relevant species (in Europe) to
be part of large scale nationwide or Europen-level monitoring projects (e.g.
NATURA 2000). Probably glow-worms and fireflies are not present in the monitor
species lists as there remains a huge lack of knowledge of the status and
distribution of most species and as a consequence no species is listed yet in the
Red Data Book. Hence the necessity to start with surveys. Different types of
monitoring studies are possible:
• Structured NETWORK MONITORING (e.g. European Natura2000): rigid
strategies and plans to follow up statistical samples or entire populations. Using
abundance estimates and population densities; intensive, time- and financially
costly!
• UNSTRUCTURED MONITORING: usually volunteer-based, own “random”
choice of locations and methodology: to obtain presence (and absence) data.
Generally called a “survey” in order to obtain an idea of biodiversity or species
richness of a site. (OUR CASE; e.g. www.gusanosdeluz.es , USA Firefly Watch )
• MIXED STRATEGIES: within structured and unstructured monitoring; e.g. using
species checklists to obtain presence/absence data within a previously set-up
network of study sites (ALSO POSSIBLE FOR OUR OBJECTIVES)
FINE TUNING SURVEYS
ABUNDANCE ESTIMATES by counting numbers of bioluminescent individuals or estimating
abundance classes per species at higher densities (e.g. 0, <5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50-100, <100,
etc.). For flying luminescent species, abundances and nightly activity can be estimated by a
“transect method”: the number of fireflies crossing 10m linear transect are counted (Cratsley &
Lewis 2005; Viviani et al. 2010). Observation periods can last for example 20s which is repeated
after 2 min. The same double count can be repeated after 10 min and the mean value of
abundance can be calculated as a result of the repeated counts (Picchi et al. 2013).
In order to STUDY EFFECTS OF LIGHT POLLUTION we recommend the
use of self-made, simple and inexpensive electronic light sensors to measure low
level ambient light intensities at surveyed sites (Anchana et al. 2008:
http://securewebcc.com/nabt/files/pdf/070-02-0006.pdf), or the use of Unihedron
Sky Quality Meters SQM (relatively cheap and sensitive for low light levels) that
provide relative data about darkness quality of habitats
(http://www.unihedron.com/projects/darksky/).
PREDICTIONS OF SEASONAL PEAK ABUNDANCES: such calculations become
possible once reliable long term data of dates of yearly maximal abundances are available (Faust,
L.F. & Weston, P.A. (2009) Degree-day prediction of adult emergence of Photinus carolinus
(Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Environmental Entomology 38: 1505-1512).
FINE PLANNING: Prepare field forms to fill in data in a rapid and standardised manner, print
detailed paper maps to indicate findings or use GPS-loggers to obtain direct coordinates of
findings. Take note of (micro)habitat, temperatures, skylight conditions and illumination (in
lux, mags/arcsecond², cd/m²; moonlight or cloudiness in estimated % cloud cover, presence of
artificial light). If possible and if sure, note species with stage and gender (adult: female, male;
larva; pupa). Take daytime photos of habitats and of found specimens (prevent collectioning;
except of voucher specimens in cases of doubt). Also indicate if no lampyrids have been found
(nill findings important for future analysis to study why species are present or absent!)
Take detailed photos of dorsal and ventral parts of found fireflies, especially of
difficult to classify cases. If possible also try to get photos of the bioluminescence, i.e.
the light organ patterns. These might be highly valuable for species identification.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Erik Matthysen, Sascha Grimm, BiodiversidadVirtual.org, Lynn Faust, Sara Lewis, Yiu Vor,
Betalights.nl, John Day, John Tyler, UK glow-worm survey for inspiration, support and input.