Temporal variation in ground beetle activity was studied in blocks of corn on which stover management (harvested and not harvested) treatments and a silage removal treatment were imposed. Activity density of carabids was monitored weekly in each treatment using replicated pitfall traps. To prevent bias in trap data due to rapid removal of individuals from the carabid community, trap activity was limited to 48 hours during each weekly trapping interval and traps were covered when not active. Time-sort pitfall trapping also was undertaken to determine daily activity cycles of carabids over the course of the growing season. Beetles were collected during eight 3-hour intervals each repeated over two consecutive 24-hour periods. Results suggested that ground beetle activity was lower in plots from which stover and silage were removed than in plots harvested only for grain. Distinct diurnal activity patterns were observed in time-sort pitfall data for the four dominant carabid species that were present in the weekly pitfall collections.
Species 1: Coleoptera Carabidae (ground beetle)
Keywords: pitfall trapping
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