Long-term monitoring of ground-dwelling arthropods in central Arizona–Phoenix, ongoing
since 1998
Publication date: 2017-02-20
Author(s):
- Nancy Grimm, Arizona State University
- Dan Childers, Arizona State University
- Stanley Faeth
- Mark Hostetler
- Nancy McIntyre
- Eyal Shochat
Abstract:
The Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) program has been
monitoring ground-dwelling arthropods (e.g., insects, ararchnids) at locations throughout the
greater Phoenix metropolitan area (GPMA) and surrounding Sonoran desert region since 1998.
Monitoring locations span a diversity of habitat types, including mesic and xeric residential
yards, commercial areas, agricultural fields, desert locations within the GPMA (desert
remnant), and undisturbed desert locations. Organisms are collected quarterly using unbaited
pitfall traps, typically ten per location but with some variation, exposed for approximately
seventy-two hours. Organisms are identified to the lowest practical taxonomic level and
enumerated. Many of the sampling locations established at the beginning of the monitoring
project were relocated in 2001-2002 to overlap with the CAP LTER's Ecological Survey of
Central Arizona (ESCA; formerly named Survey200) long-term monitoring sites, although within
the same general landscape categories.
Keywords:
urban,
arthropods,
insects,
invertebrates,
pitfall traps,
long term monitoring,
agriculture,
community composition disturbance patterns,
populations studies,
land use and land cover change,
adapting to city life sonoran desert,
residential yards cap lter,
cap,
caplter,
central arizona phoenix long term ecological research,
arizona,
az,
arid land
Temporal Coverage:
1998-04-23 to 2016-10-15
Geographic Coverage:
Geographic Description: CAP LTER study area
Bounding Coordinates:
Longitude:-112.577118210717 to -111.61479515834
Latitude:33.8204250130355 to 33.3028279145498
Contact:
Data Manager, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State
University,
PO Box 875402,Tempe
caplter.data@asu.edu
Methods used in producing this dataset:
Show
Arthropod Pitfall Trapping Protocol (Sept_2016)
Overview:
-
Traps are set (opened) on day 1 and collected (closed) on day 4 quarterly.
It does not matter in what order the pitfall sites are visited but the sites are
grouped geographically.
-
There are 10 traps at most sites—some sites have 11 installed in case a
trap cannot be located (if more than 10 traps are found, set and collect only
10), and at NDV sites 12 traps are set and collected each time. Traps are
usually ~5 meters apart on a straight line (except at residential sites and some
commercial sites).
-
Traps at non-agricultural sites consist of a piece of sewer pipe buried so
it is flush with the ground. A 16-ounce plastic cup is placed in the pipe and
traps are covered with a cut piece of sewer pipe lid when not in use (lids are
spray painted green for traps located in lawns). At agricultural sites, there
are no pipes in the ground. For each visit, a fresh trap line is dug into the
dirt.
-
For non-agricultural sites, take a few extra place-holding pipes into the
field each time. Sometimes the pipes get dug out of the ground by animals or
humans and need to be replaced.
-
Do not set traps when it is raining, when heavy rain is expected, or when
flood irrigation is in an agricultural field. If there is too much water in the
cup to fit in the jar (from rain, crop irrigation, or landscape watering), a
piece of plankton netting is used to filter out enough water to fit. After
filtering the water, always rinse the netting into the jar with a wash bottle to
collect any insects that may have stuck to it (even if you cannot see any
insects).
-
Scorpions are often encountered at the desert sites—take caution when
removing the trap lids, when removing the cup from the ground (they are often
found underneath the cup on the ground in the pipe), and when collecting the
trap!!!
-
A minimum of 7 traps must be collected on day 4, otherwise that location
should be reset or disregarded for that collection cycle. During a given
collection cycle, a maximum of two ag sites can be disregarded if the collection
is not successful (due to irrigation, tilling, or whatever).
Field Procedure:
Day 1: Setting the traps
-
Remove the lid from the trap and ensure the plastic cup is clean and free
of any debris or dead insects. If the cup is missing, very dirty, or damaged,
replace with a new one.
-
Collect the trap lids and bring back to the lab until traps are collected
on day 4. Take note if any lids are missing to ensure there is a lid for each
trap when you return to close the traps on day 4. At some of the more remote
desert sites, the lids can be left next to the trap with rocks piled on top
instead of bringing back to the lab.
-
At ag sites, dig a fresh trap line into the dirt and use TWO cups, one to
hold the place and the other inside it to collect the arthropods. Ag site traps
are placed lengthwise along the toe of one berm, not on the crest of berms, or
across the crop spaces between berms. This is done to minimize the likelihood of
the cups filling with water if the field gets irrigated, but still capture
arthropods that inhabit the crop area.
Before collecting:
-
Fill sample jars ~halfway with a diluted ethanol solution. Ethanol can be
obtained from Lab Stores with an alcohol release form. The solution is prepared
in GWC 681 in gallon jugs with 70% ethanol, 30% water.
Day 4: Collecting
-
If lizards are found in the cup, release them and note their presence on
the data sheet.
-
Pour the ethanol solution in the cup and swirl. Pour the contents of the
cup into the jar and insert the appropriate jar label (labels could also be
inserted while filling the jars).
-
Replace the lid (green for grass, white otherwise), piling rocks on top of
the lids in desert areas to help keep the lids on until the next collection
cycle. At ag sites, remove the cups and bring back to the lab.
-
Enter appropriate information for each site on the field data sheet
(including type of crop at ag sites) and return with the specimen jars to the
entomology laboratory at ASU (LSA 302).
Laboratory procedure:
-
Organisms are sorted to the lowest practical taxonomic unit, and
enumerated.
-
Organism taxonomy and number are entered into the CAP LTER arthropod
database along with appropriate sampling information and other relevant details.
Data Files (3) :
Tabular:
41_core_arthropods_bb82369eea1d66853c6baca6973acb29.csv
Description: Tabular file detailing key data from the CAP LTER's long-term monitoring of ground-dwelling arthropods. This data entity includes sample event details, taxonomic details and the number of collected organisms, sizes of organisms where noted in the early stages of the project, and general notes and details regarding the gathering of specimen data.
Column |
Description |
Type |
Units |
site_code |
survey location identifier
|
string |
|
sample_date |
date of sample collection
|
date |
Format: YYYY-MM-DD |
observer |
identifier (typically initials) of person primarily responsible for processing (sorting, identifying) collected samples
|
string |
|
trap_name |
identifier of individual collecting trap
|
string |
|
trap_sampling_events_comments |
comments regarding field data collection or lab sample processing
|
string |
|
trap_sampling_events_flags |
quality control flags (comments) regarding field data collection or lab sample processing
|
string |
|
trap_count |
total number of traps collected and processed for this collection event (i.e., specific site_code and sample_date)
|
float |
number |
arth_class |
organism classification: class
|
string |
|
arth_order |
organism classification: order
|
string |
|
arth_family |
organism classification: family
|
string |
|
arth_genus_subgenus |
organism classification: genus or subgenus
|
string |
|
display_name |
organism classification for descriptive purposes, typically finest taxonomic resolution
|
string |
|
lt2mm |
number of specimens less than 2 mm in length
|
float |
number |
_2_5mm |
number of specimens 2 to 5 mm in length
|
float |
number |
_5_10mm |
number of specimens 5 to 10 mm in length
|
float |
number |
gt10mm |
number of specimens greater than 10 mm in length
|
float |
number |
unsized |
number of specimens not distinguished by size/length
|
float |
number |
Tabular:
41_core_arthropod_sites_3c24f940dcf18059ffd6f0907b03def6.csv
Description: Tabular file providing detailed characteristics of arthropod sampling locations, including a general description of the location (typically nearest cross streets), latitude and longitude, sampling start and end dates (if applicable), specifics as to the number and arrangment of pitfall traps, and general comments regarding the sampling location.
Column |
Description |
Type |
Units |
site_code |
survey location identifier
|
string |
|
location |
street address or general description of sampling location
|
string |
|
lat |
latitude of sampling location (approximately as the center of the trap line or configuration)
|
float |
degree |
long |
longitude of sampling location (approximately as the center of the trap line or configuration)
|
float |
degree |
gps_date |
date gps position of sampling location was recorded
|
date |
Format: YYYY-MM-DD |
start_date |
date of first sampling at the location
|
date |
Format: YYYY-MM-DD |
end_date |
date of final sampling or date of decision to cease sampling at the location
|
date |
Format: YYYY-MM-DD |
num_traps |
number of traps installed at the sampling location
|
float |
number |
trap_arrange |
general description of arrangement of the traps, especially arrangement was other than a line
|
string |
|
comments |
general comments regarding the sampling location
|
string |
|
File:
41_core_arthropod_locations_304ffd207cba9542ea0dcb710becdf08.kml
Description: Geospatial file (KML) detailing the locations of CAP LTER ground-dwelling arthropod locations. Points are approximately the center location of the set of traps at a given sampling location.