Carabid movement and vegetation density: Implications for interpreting pitfall trap data from split-field trials

Thomas, C. F. G.; Brown, N.J.; Kendall, David A.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.08.033

Cited by 95 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…One should bear in mind that vegetation structure and/or density at ground level might affect the activity-density of invertebrates and therefore pitfall trap catches (Greenslade 1964;Thomas et al 2006), implying certain limitations on interpretation of our results. Moreover, different species groups may have very different activity patterns that could be affected differently by vegetation, for example, Gastropods versus Carabids.…”

Section: Invertebrate Richness and Abundancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invertebrates in field margins: taxonomic group diversity and functional group abundance in relation to age

et al. 2010

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Sown, temporary field margins are a common agri-environment scheme (AES) in the Netherlands. Despite their wide application, though, there has been scarcely any long-term monitoring of the succession of invertebrates. In the field margins of 40 farms, invertebrate diversity and the abundance of three functional groups were assessed in relation to age. The diversity in terms of number of species groups was found to increase with the age of the margins. The abundance of herbivores and detritivores also showed a positive correlation with the age of the margins. However, the abundance of predators decreased with increasing age. Older margins showed a higher total vegetation cover and fewer plant species, also resulting in lower plant species evenness. We suggest several changes to the current AES regulations. For the conservation of invertebrate diversity, longer-lasting field margins are desirable. In addition, old margins are favoured by detritivores, a group that has particular difficulty finding suitable habitats in agricultural landscapes. However, such margins are less favourable from an agricultural perspective, as they appear unsuitable for high abundances of potentially useful predators and the high vegetation cover attracts many potentially harmful herbivores. To circumvent this, the AES might be extended by incorporating hay-making, which would reduce standing biomass and might lead to more predators and fewer herbivores.

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Section: Invertebrate Richness and Abundancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invertebrates in field margins: taxonomic group diversity and functional group abundance in relation to age

et al. 2010

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“…The data obtained with this method consist of the number and activity of arthropods, informing about the so-called activity density (Thomas et al, 2006). In the present study, 30 traps were set every 2 m in two rows that were 7 m apart from each other.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diel and seasonal activity of ground dwelling spiders (Araneae) in a sandy grassland habitat

Król¹,

Hajdamowicz²,

Tkaczuk³

2018

Turk J Zool

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The paper concerns the diel and seasonal activity of ground dwelling spiders on a sandy grassland in the Bug River Valley in East-Central Poland. The spiders were captured using pitfall traps in 2009 and 2010 from May to July. The material was collected one day a week, day and night. Traps were checked every 3 h, eight times a day. It was found that for spiders with larger bodies, from the families Lycosidae and Philodromidae, the peak of their activity was in the afternoon, and smaller spiders belonging to the families Linyphiidae and Tetragnathidae showed the greatest activity in the morning. Species Pardosa palustris and Xerolycosa miniata were dominant spiders of the studied grassland. The time of their highest diel activity was different by several hours. It was observed that P. palustris individuals were more numerous in that habitat in early June and X. miniata spiders from mid-June. Spiders of the dominant family Lycosidae were in the highest numbers in the second half of May and in early June, while most of the spiders of other families were captured before or after the period of prevailing presence of dominant spiders.

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“…These biases could be a consequence of the fact that pitfall trap catches reflect the activity of the specimens as well as their abundance (Thomas et al, 2006). Therefore, the catch obtained by pitfall trapping is sometimes called "activity density" (Hon k, 1988), and, unfortunately, the correlation between activity density and real abundance can be weak in some cases (Thomas et al, 2006). However, if these biases are invariable across studies or the particular treatments being studied, a comparison among pitfall catches is relevant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of pitfall trap construction and preservative on catch size, species richness and species composition of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Knapp¹

2012

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. Pitfall trapping is the most frequently used sampling technique for epigeal arthropods. Trap design could significantly affect the catch so the results of studies using different trap designs may be difficult to compare. Although species composition is frequently investigated in ecological studies, however when pitfall trapping is employed, the effect of trap design on the recorded species composition is rarely considered. In the present study, we investigated the effect of trap construction (funnel or cup trap) and the preservative used (formaldehyde or propylene glycol) on total catch, catch of particular species, species richness and species composition of the ground beetle assemblage sampled. We were interested in the extent to which trap design could bias these characteristics. Total catch was significantly affected by trap construction and preservative used, with the effect of the latter being the stronger. Species richness was only slightly affected by trap design when assemblages caught by traps of a particular type were corrected for unequal sample size. Moreover, we show that the traps of different designs differ in their efficiency for catching particular species of carabid and thus the composition of assemblages recorded using pitfall traps is affected by trap construction and the preservative used. We conclude that to assess the full significance of the effect of pitfall trap design on the results of ecological studies on epigeal arthropods it is necessary to simultaneously use traps of various designs.

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Carabid movement and vegetation density: Implications for interpreting pitfall trap data from split-field trials

Cited by 95 publications

References 17 publications

Invertebrates in field margins: taxonomic group diversity and functional group abundance in relation to age

Invertebrates in field margins: taxonomic group diversity and functional group abundance in relation to age

Diel and seasonal activity of ground dwelling spiders (Araneae) in a sandy grassland habitat

The effect of pitfall trap construction and preservative on catch size, species richness and species composition of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

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