abstractThe selection of suitable ecological indicator groups is of great importance for environmental assessments.To test and compare two such groups, we performed transect walks of butterflies and light traps of mothsat eight sample localities in the Carinthian Alps. All of them were conducted with identical methods in theyears 2002 and 2004 allowing the evaluation of the response on the conservation measures performedon five of the eight sites in late 2002. We recorded a total of 2346 butterflies (including Zygaenidae andSesiidae) representing 83 species and 7025 moths of 534 species. 150 of these species were listed in theRed Data Book of Carinthia. In general, butterflies increased from 2002 to 2004 while moths declined. Thehighest increase rates of butterflies were obtained for the numbers of individuals of calcareous grasslandspecialists at the conservation sites, while their numbers were unchanged at the control sites. Similartrend differences between conservation and control sites were obtained for the Red Data Book butterflyspecies. On the contrary, the development of moth individuals was more positive at the control thanthe conservation sites for calcareous grassland specialists (only macro-moths) and species of the RedData Book. However, change rates of species numbers were positively correlated between butterfliesand moths. Principal Component Analysis revealed strong differences between the different sites, butmostly consistent results for butterflies and moths; however, stronger differences between years wereonly detected for some of the conservation sites for the butterfly communities. Our results show thatbutterflies as well as moths are suitable ecological indicator groups, but they do not yield identical results.Thus, butterflies are more suitable for the analysis of open habitats, whereas moths are suitable for openand forested habitats as well. Furthermore, butterflies might be a more sensitive indicator group thanmoths for the short-term detection of conservation measures, especially for the restoration of openhabitat types.?