Mojave National Preserve 2013 insect diversity data.csv
Ruttan, A., Filazzola, A. and Lortie, C. J. (2016) Shrub-annual facilitation complexes mediate insect community structure in arid environments. Journal of Arid Environments 134: 1-9.
Insect samples were collected at Kelso dunes over a nine-day period between April 24th and May 2nd, 2013. Insects were sampled daily using pan traps (approximately 18 cm in diameter) set at ground-level along an east-west axis parallel to Kelso Dunes. Thirty pairs of pan traps were set along two parallel 45 m transects (transects were 10 m apart) with alternating blue, yellow, and white traps approximately every 3 m using the NSERC-CANPOLIN protocol (http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin). Pan traps were paired so that each replicate had one pan trap under the southern portion of a L. tridentata canopy, halfway between the base of the shrub and the drip-line, and within a patch of annual plants. The other pan traps were deployed 2 m south of each paired shrub in an adjacent open microsite, also with annual plants present (see Appendix A; Fig. A2). Open microsites were located two metres from the drip-line of shrubs because this was on average the maximum distance possible without being within a two metre radius of another shrub (Ruttan pers. obs). Pan traps were half-filled with a solution of soapy water prepared by mixing five drops of unscented dish detergent per litre of water (for protocol, see: http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin). Pan traps were set out by 9:00 a.m. and collected at 5:00 p.m. daily targeting typical peak insect activity (http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin). All samples were collected on sunny days with no precipitation. Samples were collected from each pan trap replicate and stored in vials of 70% ethanol. Insects were then sorted from samples and identified to the family level for ease of identification using Goulet and Huber (1993) and Borror et al. (1989).
