Effects of Pitfall Trap Spacing on the Abundance, Richness and Composition of Invertebrate Catches

• Published in: Journal of insect conservation Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 47 - 53
• Main Authors: Ward, Darren F, New, Tim R, Yen, Alan L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01-03-2001
• Subjects: Australia, Victoria; Coleoptera; Formicidae; Invertebrates; Pitfall traps; Small mammals; Woodlands
• ISSN: 1366-638X; 1572-9753
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1011317423622

Pitfall trapping is one of the most commonly used methods to survey surface-active invertebrates, but has many potential biases that may affect the catch of invertebrates. The distance between pitfall traps (inter-trap spacing) is one such factor. The abundance, richness and composition of invertebrate orders, and species of ants and beetles was examined for three commonly used inter-trap spacings (1, 5, 10m) in a grassy-woodland ecosystem in Victoria, Australia. Abundance and composition was not significantly different between treatments for any taxa. A significant difference in richness between treatments was found only for beetles. The 5 and 10m treatments had a significantly higher number of beetle morphospecies than the 1m treatment. Knowledge of such biases, and how subtle variations in trap design affect efficiency, is important for designing invertebrate surveys.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]