The detailed instructions can be found in this Word document.
The goal here is to dissect out the microhabitat preferences of Canada's Carrion Beetles. Many, but not all, use forests as their preferred habitats. Traditionally, they have been caught using pitfall traps. There is some evidence that some of the species prefer the forest canopy. And that is what I want to find out. Which ones? What types of forests? When?
Methods
| I have posted a PowerPoint show which explains the method for setting up the traps. Click on the image to start the download. Basically, you'll set up one or more stations (each station has two traps suspended from a line), and monitor it once a week; you decide how many weeks you want to do this. If you're doing this for a science fair project, you'd want to set up more than one station and definitely monitor the traps for a month (or more); that's only one check per week though...not too tough at all! |
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| The detailed instructions can be found in this Word document. |
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The simple fact of the matter is that this experiment is not expensive to run on an individual basis, but would be tremendously expensive for one team to do all the work. Therefore, I am putting out the call for volunteers. If you live in or near the woods, or routinely go there, this project may add a new dimension to your wanderings.
Feel free to contact me using any of the methods below.
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Department of Biology St. Francis Xavier University Antigonish, NS Canada B2G 2W5 902 867-2471 |