SNH Invertebrate Site Condition Monitoring of Beetle Assemblage Features 2015: Ardgour Pinewoods SSSI

Quality Control

We have a very high level of confidence in this dataset. The recorder and/or determiner is a highly experienced ecologist. Where necessary, rare specimens were compared against reference collections, those held in the National Museums Scotland collection and identities confirmed with experts.

Method steps

1. Surveys targeted the beetle assemblage feature of Ardgour Pinewoods SSSI and involved a combination of bark traps and active searches. Bark traps were installed on 21/05/2015 at 10 locations on deadwood in Scots pine woodland with areas of birch between the Cona Glen and Doire MoI`?r compartments. Each trap consisted of two layers of plastic bubble wrap (40 x 40 cm), with bubbles facing each other so as to provide artificial a^??barka^?? habitat. Dark plastic was used to cover the traps to keep out light, and they were wrapped around a tree with wire at 1.5 m height. Traps were then left in situ for several weeks to allow invertebrates to colonise this new habitat. The traps were collected on 16/07/2015; invertebrates between the traps and tree bark and between the bubble wrap layers were collected and the traps removed. Active searches were completed at four locations with appropriate microhabitats on 16/07/2015. This involved surveying a variety of niches within the arboreal habitat such as dead trunks, aerial deadwood, rot holes fruiting fungi and loose bark.

Ardgour Pinewoods SSSI