During the weeks of September 5th to 12th, a Hawai'i Pacific University environmental science
class installed pitfall traps at Hamakua marsh to gain an understanding of the type of invertebrates that call the marsh home.
The timing of the sampling was particularly important due to the disking of the marsh (procedure used to interrupt the growth of pickleweed, an invasive plant).
Method
The method used to determine the abundance of invertebrates living in the area
was to place pitfall traps located throughout the Hamakua basins B and C before and after
the disking of the marsh, then collect the pitfall traps, and count the number of
invertebrates found in each trap and categorize by taxonomy. Pitfall traps were placed
either by water to collect invertebrates that live near water or placed on land banks to
collect invertebrates living there.
Pitfall traps were made by using a small glass jar half-filled with green biosafe antifreeze, to attract as many invertebrates as possible. The
glass jars were then placed in a hole, dug into the ground and covered with a loose
netting to stop leaves or waterbirds from entering (confirm). A flag was then placed at
the position of the trap and GPS coordinates were recorded for easy location.
Results
This website contains the invertebrate type and count of the sum of the pitfall traps
collected in the Hamakua marsh, as well as information of each invertebrate collected in the marsh
and used the data collected to visually display the data through graphs and charts.
