Development of sampling protocol on ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera: Carabidae): Case studies on trap placement, trap size, and trapping period in Korea

This study was conducted to develop the sampling protocols on ground beetle assemblages using pitfall trap from Naejangsan National Park of Korea about trap placement and effect of trap size and sampling period. Three types of trap placement, such as random sampling (14 sites in forest), short transect (3 transects of forest interior-edge-surrounding), and long transect (3 transects of forest interior-edge), were tested to examine their efficiency. Also, to investigate the efficiency of trap size with trapping period, 6 different sizes of trap mouthpart (plastic cup trap, 3.5 cm; 4.5 cm; 7.5cm; bottle, 10.5 cm; 2.5 cm *6 holes; funnel trap, 12.5 cm) and 3 different sampling durations (T1, 2 weeks*2 times; T2, 2 weeks*4 times; T3, 4 weeks* 2 times) were tested from 4 different study sites. In trap placement, short transect method showed higher species richness than random sampling and long transect, and species composition was also different in short transect. In trap size and trapping period, on the other hand, funnel and large-sized trap, and T2 and T3 showed higher abundance and species richness than others, but those sorting time was increased accordingly. In summary, to combine the different type of trap placements would be provide a better result in inventory study at certain region and to select the proper trap size and trapping period, considering time, labor and money, would be provide some advantages for efficient monitoring.