An assessment of mesh bags and plastic leaf traps as tools for studying macroinvertebrate assemblages in natural leaf packs

Abstract

Aggregation of leat litter formed against small mesh obstacles — ‘placebo traps’ — were studied in four streams differing in natural retentiveness and pH. In three of the streams, natural benthic accumulations of leaf litter were available for comparison, and in these the fauna in the plastic traps and the natural accumulations was similar. In two of the streams comparisons were made, in terms of percent composition, between the fauna of the stony benthos and that colonizing plastic traps and leaf-filled mesh bags. In an acid, naturally retentive stream, the fauna of the three treatments was similar, although shredders were relatively more abundant in plastic traps and mesh bags. In a circumneutral, non-retentive stream diversity of taxa was reduced in plastic traps compared with the stony benthos, and in mesh bags compared with plastic traps. Numbers of animals per g of leaf litter were similar in plastic traps and mesh bags in the retentive stream. In the non-retentive stream, however, there were fewer animals in mesh bags than in the plastic traps. For many purposes, the plastic traps produce leaf packs which closely mimic natural packs, but the results from mesh bags depend on the background retentiveness of the streams in question.