A calibration of the efficiency of Winkler eclectors for extracting Collembola at different humidities

Authors

  • Peter Shaw Roehampton University
  • Mark Dunscombe Roehampton University
  • Anne Robertson Roehampton University

Keywords:

Suspended soils, remote fieldwork, field sampling, Tullgren funnels, Winkler funnels

Abstract

It is often desirable to collect Collembola from remote locations where the usual extraction systems based on thermal gradients are simply impossible, e.g. for lack of adequate energy supplies. Winkler funnels are often used in such situations as zero-energy extractors of soil arthropods, but have not been calibrated for the collection of Collembola. Here we report a series of trials comparing densities and species-richness of Collembola in leaf moulds using parallel Tullgren and Winkler extractions. Each litter was tested separately with the Winkler funnel environment at low and at high humidity. Our results showed that Winkler funnels are a poor substitute for Tullgrens, under-recording species by 30% and densities by 78%, suggesting that the basic Winkler funnel method is not suitable for objective quantitative Collembola population studies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Berlese, A. (1905): Apparecchio per raccogliere presto ed in gran numero piccoli artropodi. – Redia 2: 85–89.

Besuchet, C., D. H. Burkhardt & I. Lobl (1987): The ‘Winkler/Moczarski’ eclector as an efficient extractor for fungus and litter Coleoptera. – Coleopterists’ Bulletin 41: 392–394.

Ducarme, X., H.M. Andre & P. Lebrun (1998): Extracting endogeous microarthropods: A new flotation method using 1,2-dibromoethane. – European Journal of Soil Biology 34: 143–150.

Fjellberg, A. (1998): The Collembola of Fennoscandinavia and Denmark. 1. Poduridae. – Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 35: Leiden: Brill.

Fjellberg, A. (2007): The Collembola of Fennoscandia and Denmark: Entomobryomorpha and Symphypleona. – Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 42: Leiden: Brill.

Holdhaus, K. (1910): Die Siebetechnik zum Aufsammeln der Terricolfauna. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Insektenbiologie 6: 44–57.

Hopkin, S. P. (1997): Biology of the Springtails. – OUP, Oxford: 330 pp.

Hopkin, S. P. (2007): Key to Collembola (Springtails) of Britain and Ireland. – AIDGAP: Shrewsbury, UK: 245 pp.

Joose, E. N. G., H. A. Verhoef & C. J. Nagelkerke (1977). Aggregation pheromones in Collembola (apterygota): a biotic cause of aggregation. – Revue d‘Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol 14: 21–25.

Krell, F. T., A. Y. C. Chung, E. DeBoise, P. Eggleton, A. Giusti, K. Inward, S. Krell-Westerwalbesloh (2005): Quantitative extraction of macro-invertebrates from temperate and tropical leaf litter and soil: efficiency and time-dependent taxonomic biases of the Winkler extraction. – Pedobiologia 49: 175–186.

Macfadyen, A. (1953): Notes on methods for the extraction of small soil arthropods. – Journal of Animal Ecology 22: 65–77.

Macfadyen, A. (1961): Improved funnel-type extractors for soil arthropods. – Journal of Animal Ecology 30: 171–184.

McSorley, R. & D. E. Walters (1991): Comparison of soil extraction methods for nematodes and microarthropods. – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 34: 201–207.

Querner, P. & A. Bruckner (2010): Combining pitfall traps and soil samples to collect Collembola for site scale biodiversity assessments. – Applied Soil Ecology 45: 293–297.

Shaw, P. J. A. & M. B. Usher (1996): Edaphic Collembola of lodgepole pine Pinus contorta plantations in Cumbria, UK. – European Journal of Soil Biology 32: 89–97.

Southwood, T. R. E & P. A.Henderson (2000): Ecological methods, edn. III. – Oxford: Blackwell Science.

Tullgren, A. (1918): Ein sehr einfacher Ausleseapparat für terricole Tierfaunen. – Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 4: 149–150.

Usher, M. B. (1969): Some properties of the aggregation of soil arthropods: Collembola. – Journal of Animal Ecology 38: 607–622.

Yanoviak, S. P., H. Walker & N. M. Nadkarni (2004): Arthropod assemblages in vegetative vs. humic portions of epiphyte mats in a neotropical cloud forest. – Pedobiologia 48: 51–58.

Downloads

Published

2011-12-01

Issue

Section

SHORT COMMUNICATION

How to Cite

A calibration of the efficiency of Winkler eclectors for extracting Collembola at different humidities. (2011). Soil Organisms, 83(3), 507–514. https://soil-organisms.org/index.php/SO/article/view/269