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The Accuracy of Pitfall Trapping for the Sand‐Beach Isopod Tylos Punctatus
Author(s) -
Hayes Willis B.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1935388
Subject(s) - coring , pitfall trap , trapping , juvenile , population , ecology , isopoda , biology , crustacean , fishery , habitat , mechanical engineering , drilling , demography , sociology , engineering
A population of the isopod Tylos punctatus on a California beach was sampled by simultaneous coring and pitfall trapping. The traps showed a statistically significant bias against females, particularly gravid ones, and against juvenile isopods when compared to the cores. It is concluded that, for studying the population structure of this species, and perhaps others as well, pitfall traps produce samples that are too inaccurate to be useful.