Long-term monitoring of ground-dwelling arthropods in central Arizona–Phoenix, ongoing since 1998

The Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) program has been monitoring ground-dwelling arthropods (e.g., insects, ararchnids) at locations throughout the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (GPMA) and surrounding Sonoran desert region since 1998. Monitoring locations span a diversity of habitat types, including mesic and xeric residential yards, commercial areas, agricultural fields, desert locations within the GPMA (desert remnant), and undisturbed desert locations. Organisms are collected quarterly using unbaited pitfall traps, typically ten per location but with some variation, exposed for approximately seventy-two hours. Organisms are identified to the lowest practical taxonomic level and enumerated. Many of the sampling locations established at the beginning of the monitoring project were relocated in 2001-2002 to overlap with the CAP LTER's Ecological Survey of Central Arizona (ESCA; formerly named Survey200) long-term monitoring sites, although within the same general landscape categories.亚利桑那州中部-凤凰城长期生态研究计划（Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research，缩写CAP LTER）自1998年起，便在大凤凰城都会区（Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area，缩写GPMA）及周边索诺兰沙漠区域的多个点位开展地表栖息节肢动物（如昆虫、蛛形纲动物）监测工作。监测点位覆盖多种生境类型，包括湿润型与干旱型住宅庭院、商业区域、农田、大凤凰城都会区内的沙漠残遗生境（desert remnant）以及未受干扰的沙漠区域。研究人员每季度采用无诱饵陷井诱捕器进行样本采集，每个点位通常放置10个，部分点位数量略有调整，诱捕器暴露时长约为72小时。采集到的生物将被鉴定至最精细的实用分类阶元，并进行计数统计。本监测项目初期设立的多个采样点位，于2001-2002年进行了重新布设，以与CAP LTER的亚利桑那中部生态调查（Ecological Survey of Central Arizona，缩写ESCA，原名为Survey200）长期监测点位重合，但仍隶属于同一大类景观类别。