Protocols

Plastic pan traps with soapy water deployed along stream transects to capture terrestrial invertebrates falling into or near the river. Traps are pooled by transect and processed for taxonomic identif...

2x2 factorial design manipulating temperature and conductivity to test environmental drying cues on caddisfly development and survival. Uses shade manipulation and salt additions to simulate pond dryi...

Annual capture-recapture surveys over 24 years to track individual survival, growth, reproduction and developmental pathways in a polyphenic salamander population. Combines individual marking with det...

Controlled experimental system using circular plastic tanks to test mayfly larval responses to chemical cues by measuring foraging behavior on substrate surfaces before and after treatment application...

Time-lapse camera monitoring of aquatic insect landing and oviposition behavior on paired emergent rocks with different embedding characteristics. Combines behavioral observation with egg mass countin...

Systematic collection of water samples from ponds across a hydroperiod gradient for analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. Samples collected at multiple time points to capture temporal variati...

Collection of nitrogen samples via syringe filtration and chlorophyll samples via algae collection from submerged rocks, with spectrophotometric analysis normalized by substrate area.

Fluorometric analysis of ammonia in water samples using working reagent that produces fluorescent compound when reacting with ammonia. Uses quadruplicate sampling and background correction.

Standardized measurements of wing length and dried body mass components under stereomicroscope to quantify adult fitness proxies and assess elevation effects on body size.

Multi-parameter assessment of beaver pond physical characteristics including area, depth, flow velocity, and beaver activity indicators to control for habitat differences in community analyses.

Weekly monitoring of plant phenology, morphological traits, and density across an elevational gradient to assess phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental conditions. Uses standardized phenol...

Comprehensive measurement of stream physical and chemical parameters including substrate characteristics, water quality, and algal biomass. Provides environmental context for species distribution patt...

Individual caddisflies are observed for fixed time periods to record movement patterns, social interactions, and aggressive behaviors. Follows established protocols for recording specific behaviors li...

Factorial experimental design using artificial stream channels to test temperature and nutrient effects on algae growth. Solar heating systems create temperature gradients while drip systems deliver c...

Controlled feeding trials in plastic mesocosms where starved salamanders are presented with multiple prey types and their consumption and foraging behavior is observed and quantified over a fixed time...

Standardized measurement of individual larval dry mass using precision microbalance after oven-drying at controlled temperature. Applied to assess growth and biomass responses to experimental treatmen...

Modified gastric-lavage technique to obtain stomach contents for prey identification, enumeration, and biomass/caloric calculations using published conversion factors.

Short-term incubation of caddisfly larvae in filtered pond water to measure nitrogen and phosphorus excretion rates under ambient conditions. Five larvae per species were incubated for one hour in sha...

Organisms are incubated in filtered pond water for one hour to measure nitrogen and phosphorus excretion rates through water chemistry analysis before and after incubation.

Larvae offered multiple food choices in aquatic containers with instantaneous behavioral sampling over extended time periods to quantify feeding preferences.

Standardized sampling of large and small benthic invertebrates using D-net sweeps and benthic cores, with zooplankton sampling using mesh nets. Animals identified to species or family level for commun...

Laboratory-controlled temperature treatments using paired experimental boxes in contrasting thermal environments to test effects of temperature on insect development rates and voltinism.