A Review of Terrestrial and Canopy Malaise Traps

Skvarla, Michael J.; Larson, Jonathan; Fisher, J. Ray; Dowling, Ashley P. G.

doi:10.1093/aesa/saaa044

Cited by 51 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 267 publications

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“…Townes-style malaise [ 25 ] and malaise canopy traps (Sante Traps, Lexington, KY, USA) were used to measure adult stream insect activity at ground level and in the forest canopy, respectively ( Figure 2 ), and are referred to as “ground” and “canopy” traps for this study. The traps collected all terrestrial and aquatic flying insects, but this study focused on Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies) with an additional focus on plecopteran families [ 26 ]. This study focused on stonefly families because they are associated with healthy stream ecosystems, are common indicators of stream health, were known to use riparian vegetation, and were ubiquitous throughout our study location (see [ 4 ] for more information on Plecoptera biology and life history).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical Migration of Adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera above Forested Headwater Streams

Bowman

Smith

2021

Insects

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Stream insects are essential components of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem structure and function. Terrestrial stages are important components of terrestrial food webs, and flight-capable individuals are responsible for long-distance dispersal. Horizontal migrations by flying or crawling adults away from stream channels that link insects to riparian food webs and movements across catchment boundaries are well established through empirical research, but studies examining vertical migration of adult stream insects into forest canopies are generally lacking. This study focused on differences in adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera abundance at ground level versus the riparian canopy and differences in abundances among summer and autumn sampling periods to empirically demonstrate use of canopy ecosystems by stream insects. Malaise traps at ground level and canopy traps placed 8 to 10 m above the stream at four sites in the Mosquito Creek watershed (Pennsylvania) were used to examine vertical migration. Larval assemblages were collected and compared to adult assemblage to investigate patterns of local migration in the catchment. We found significantly more stream insects at ground level than in the forest canopy for Trichoptera, Plecoptera, and all individual plecopteran families, but a meaningful number of individuals were found in the riparian canopy. Canopy abundances were similar to abundances captured in adjacent ground-level habitats in other studies. Comparisons of adult and larval abundances among sites, taxa, and stages indicated site- and taxon-specific patterns for vertical movement into riparian canopies. Demonstrating that adult stream insects utilize riparian forest canopies indicates that riparian forest conservation should be prioritized over reforestation and that several potential research questions exist to inform riparian management.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical Migration of Adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera above Forested Headwater Streams

Bowman

Smith

2021

Insects

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“…For insect bulk sampling Malaise traps are used, building upon the experience and recommendations of previous research (Sorg et al 2019) for which first results have already been published, including insect biomass declines (Hallmann et al 2017) and data on hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae, Hallmann et al 2021). The Malaise trap is a well-established method for collecting flying insects (Ssymank et al 2018;Skvarla et al 2021) used in several projects worldwide such as the well-known Swedish Malaise trap project (Karlsson et al 2020), the ILTER network across Europe (Mirtl et al 2018), and recent and ongoing studies from Germany (Hardaluk et al 2020;Hausmann et al 2020;Welti et al 2021). To allow data compatibility with previous studies (Hallmann et al 2017(Hallmann et al , 2021, we use a standardized sampling design for Malaise traps and insect biodiversity assessment (Schwan et al 1993;Ssymank et al 2018).…”

Section: The Project Dina-diversity Of Insects In Nature Protected Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, Malaise traps cover the most species rich orders (such as Diptera), for which they are the recommended method (Brown 2021). Equally well represented in Malaise traps are the Hymenoptera (Prado et al 2017;Ssymank et al 2018) and Coleoptera (especially the small species) (Ulyshen et al 2005), but ground dwelling and heavier insects may be underrepresented (Stork and Grimbacher 2006;Ssymank et al 2018;Montgomery et al 2021;Skvarla et al 2021). Consequently, our approach comes close to an all-taxa biodiversity inventory (ATBI: Eymann et al 2010) and represents the overall biodiversity better than studies of single insect orders, which dominate the research landscape (overviews in Sánchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys 2019, 2021).…”

Section: The Project Dina-diversity Of Insects In Nature Protected Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project

et al. 2021

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Insect declines and biodiversity loss have attracted much attention in recent years, but lack of comprehensive data, conflicting interests among stakeholders and insufficient policy guidance hinder progress in preserving biodiversity. The project DINA (Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas) investigates insect communities in 21 nature reserves in Germany. All selected conservation sites border arable land, with agricultural practices assumed to influence insect populations. We taught citizen scientists how to manage Malaise traps for insect collection, and subsequently used a DNA metabarcoding approach for species identification. Vegetation surveys, plant metabarcoding as well as geospatial and ecotoxicological analyses will help to unravel contributing factors for the deterioration of insect communities. As a pioneering research project in this field, DINA includes a transdisciplinary dialogue involving relevant stakeholders such as local authorities, policymakers, and farmers, which aims at a shared understanding of conservation goals and action pathways. Stakeholder engagement combined with scientific results will support the development of sound policy recommendations to improve legal frameworks, landscape planning, land use, and conservation strategies. With this transdisciplinary approach, we aim to provide the background knowledge to implement policy strategies that will halt further decline of insects in German protected areas.

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“…Nevertheless, few studies have investigated whether local patterns of species diversity are related to vertical stratification of different insect feeding guilds, which may be more informative regarding the functional role of arthropods in tropical forests (but see Grimbacher and Stork, 2007;Neves et al, 2014). Furthermore, along with the increasing interest in canopy ecosystems (Nadkarni et al, 2011;Silva J. O. et al, 2017;Swart et al, 2020), here we simultaneously measured herbivorous insect species diversity in both canopy and understory environments through time to contribute to the current knowledge on the subject (DeVries, 1988;Wolda, 1992;Skvarla et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Herbivorous Insects Along Always-Green Mountaintop Forest Islands

Kuchenbecker

Macedo-Reis

Fagundes

et al. 2021

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Insects make up the bulk of terrestrial diversity and about half of insect species are herbivores that have direct relationships with their host plants and are the basis of the entire food chain, on which wildlife and humanity depend. Some herbivorous insect traits, such as their spatio-temporal distribution, are especially relevant in the current scenario of global changes, which are more pronounced in high elevation areas, helping to improve the effectiveness of conservation actions. Here we evaluated the influence that different spatiotemporal scales have on three free-feeding herbivorous insect guilds (fluid-feeding, leaf-chewing, and xylophagous insects) in montane forest islands immersed in a grassland-dominated matrix (campo rupestre). We assessed whether species turnover or nestedness was the main component determining both spatial and temporal species composition variation (β-diversity) of the herbivorous insect community. We also checked the temporal effect on herbivorous insect guilds composition between vertical strata. We sampled herbivorous insects during two summers and two winters in 14 forest islands of different sizes and shapes in a natural mountainous fragment located in southeastern Brazil. A total of 6597 herbivorous insects representing 557 morphospecies were sampled, 290 of which were fluid-feeding, 147 leaf-chewing and 120 xylophagous insects. We found a main contribution of time scale in the organization of the herbivorous insect composition sampled in this study, mainly by turnover, with small differences among guilds. Additionally, we could see that climate determined the local variation of species, corroborating that we have a highly variable always-green system over space and time where the understory community varies less in comparison to the canopy community. Our findings suggest that long-term ecological research on herbivorous community structure in relation to climatic variation is a key element for future investigations, which can be decisive for the conservation of herbivorous insect communities. We also suggest that the effects of anthropogenic pressures must be monitored in this system, since these forest islands may serve as warming refuges in a fragmented landscape holding an invaluable diversity of species that, without these old-growth forest reservoirs, would be doomed to disappear.

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A Review of Terrestrial and Canopy Malaise Traps

Cited by 51 publications

References 267 publications

Vertical Migration of Adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera above Forested Headwater Streams

Vertical Migration of Adult Plecoptera and Trichoptera above Forested Headwater Streams

Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Herbivorous Insects Along Always-Green Mountaintop Forest Islands

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