Ecological Archives E093-222-A4

Maarten Schrama, Matty P. Berg, Han Olff. 2012. Ecosystem assembly rules: the interplay of green and brown webs during salt marsh succession. Ecology 93:2353–2364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/11-1102.1

Appendix D. Pictures and explanation of trapping techniques.

FigD1

FIG. D1. Enclosed pitfall trap in early succession (succession stage 0 years), designed to catch surface-active invertebrates (adapted after Lang 2000). The Perspex sheets (50 cm wide, 35 cm high, 3 mm thick), which prevented animals to escape from the traps (or enter the trap area), were slid along 2 aluminium rails into the soil, to a depth of 8 cm. The pitfall trap itself was placed in the southwest corner of the enclosure, and a 2-cm layer of water to which a detergent was added, was added to the pitfall trap. Photo by Maarten Schrama.


 

FigD1B

FIG. D2. Enclosed pyramid photo-eclector trap (50 × 50cm) in late succession (succession stage 100 years), designed to catch winged invertebrates invertebrates (which can emerge from the soil) and web-building spiders (after Ausden 2000). The glass jar on top served as a ‘light bulb’, thereby attracting invertebrates. The glass jar was put upside-down in a PVC ring, and was filled with a 3cm layer of ethanol. A tube in the middle of the ring (5 cm diameter) connected the PVC ring with the shaded compartment of the trap. A plastic cover was put around the jar and the PVC ring to prevent evapotranspiration of the ethanol. The black cloth was tightly nailed to the ground to prevent escape from animals within the trap and entrance of animals from outside. Photo by Maarten Schrama.


LITERATURE CITED

Ausden, M. 2000. Invertebrates. Pages 139–176 in W. J. Sutherland, editor. Ecological census techniques: A handbook. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Lang, A. 2000. The pitfalls of pitfalls: a comparison of pitfall trap catches and absolute density estimates of epigeal invertebrate predators in arable land. Anzeiger Fur Schadlingskunde-Journal of Pest Science 73:99–106.


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