SNH Invertebrate Site Condition Monitoring 2013/14: Black Wood of Rannoch SSSI

Quality Control

We have a very high level of confidence in this dataset. 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 invertebrate assemblage feature of Black Wood of Rannoch SSSI. However, other taxa were also recorded. A variety of sampling methods were used throughout the summer to cover the range of invertebrates. Pitfall traps were set in Caledonian pine forest, with some conifer plantation and moorland. These traps focused on ground dwelling invertebrates of Araneae, several Coleoptera families, some Hemiptera families and Formicidae. They were collected on 18 June and 4 July 2013. Bark traps were set amongst Caledonian pine forest and open birch woods. They were collected on 25 and 26 July 2013 after two months. The bark traps were complemented by bark brushing carried out on the 26 July 2013. Active searching, sweep net transects and bugvac sampling was used to collect invertebrates across a wide range of taxa from the field and litter layers. These surveys were undertaken on 16, 17 and 18 June and 4 and 26 July 2013.

Black Wood of Rannoch SSSI.