The usefulness of results from both scientific studies and monitoring are contingent on sampling methods and their inherent biases ( Southwood 1994). Thus, sampling techniques must be studied to ensure both ecological sensitivity and cost effectiveness ( Southwood 1994). Indeed, large-scale programs aimed at monitoring such changes are being incorporated into land management, conservation and restoration activities. With increasing interest in human impacts on ecosystems, such as large-scale forestry, land conversion for agriculture, global climate change, and introduction of exotic species, detection of changes in native biodiversity has become critical. From a conservation perspective, however, including several large pitfall traps in the sampling regime would help detect rare species.Ĭarabidae, Staphylindae, Araneae, sampling, pitfall trap size, biodiversity For the purposes of ecological monitoring, using more small pitfall traps would be the most efficient sampling technique to characterize the dominant epigaeic arthropod fauna small traps collect few nontarget vertebrates, and sorting the samples involves generally less processing time. Roof size had no effect on species richness or catch rate of beetles or spiders. When catch rate data were standardized by trap circumference smaller traps collected more small-bodied carabid and staphylinid species and large traps collected more wolf spiders (Lycosidae) than smaller traps. Further tests on data standardized to trap circumference showed that catch rates are not directly proportional to trap size, and even the smallest traps collected a disproportionately high number of certain taxa. In general, larger pitfall traps collected more individuals, and more species, of all three taxa. We compared catch rates and species richness of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae), and spiders (Araneae) across five different diameters of pitfall traps (4.5, 6.5, 11, 15, and 20 cm) and three sizes of rain covers (64, 79.2, and 225 cm 2) to determine optimal trap size for studying litter-dwelling arthropod biodiversity. Pitfall trapping is widely used in biodiversity monitoring programs to measure the diversity of organisms active within leaf-litter. Cost-effective and ecologically sensitive monitoring techniques are required to assess effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity.
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