Insects caught in pitfall traps: Trophic Structure: Insect Species Diversity, Abundance and Body Size

The goal of this study was to examine the populations of insects in prairies and savannas. Most of the prairies had developed after being abandoned from agriculture, but none of the savannas had been cultivated. The history of burning varied between sites. The main sampling for this study was conducted in 1992 by the lead investigators: John Haarstad, Evan Siemann, and David Tilman. Insects were sampled via sweep-net sampling, pitfalls and ant scent plates throughout the growing season in each of 49 grassland fields and savannas. In total, 89,596 individuals of 1,167 species were captured and enumerated. Body size was measured for a subset of grasshoppers collected. In 2004, John Haarstad conducted two similar studies by identifying and enumerating all insects collected in sweepnet samples taken in old fields (prairies) as part of E014 grasshopper studies and from sweepnet samples taken in savannas.