Hastings Natural History Reservation

05 Apr, 05 AM - 30 Jun, 07 AM

Recent meta-analysis of "bottom-up" indirect effects of nutrients on herbivores and "top-down" indirect effects of predators on plants has shown that, on average, predators induce stronger indirect effects than nutrients. However, far more work has been done in aquatic than terrestrial communities, and most experiments examine the response of small subsets of the species in more complex communities. In this study, I will be examining the response of ground-dwelling grassland arthropods to manipulations of plant carbon and nitrogen. Using an existing experimental set-up manipulating plant nutrients (see application for Seabloom), I will employ pitfall traps to capture and examine the ground-dwelling arthropod community. In each of 9 - 4x4m plots, I will place 2 ~3cm diameter pitfall traps for a total of 18 traps at the reserve. I will use a non-toxic mixture of soap, salt, and water in the traps. I will leave them open for 4 days each month, but other than that, I will leave them closed and covered. NOTE: I called the permits office at CA Department of Fish and Game on 4/1/05 about a collecting permit for grassland terrestrial arthropods and was informed that I do not need one for this project.

Visit #6966 @Hastings Natural History Reservation

Approved

Under Project # 5212 | Research

Nutrient availability and grassland invertebrate foodwebs

faculty - University of Minnesota

Reservation Members(s)

Group of 3 Other Apr 5 - Jun 30, 2005 (87 days)
Group of 2 Research Assistant (non-student/faculty/postdoc) Apr 5 - Jun 30, 2005 (87 days)
Group of 2 Faculty Apr 5 - Jun 30, 2005 (87 days)

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Day Use Only 7 Apr 5 - Jun 30, 2005