Factorial arthropod manipulation on rabbitbrush (Formicidae)

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Knowledge graph centered on Factorial arthropod manipulation on rabbitbrush (Formicidae) with 33 nodes and 113 connections. Top connected: Beetles, Pekania pennanti, Hymenoptera, Artemisia tridentata, Artemisia.

Method synopsis

Controlled manipulation of foraging ant access and treehopper density on individual rabbitbrush plants to test trophic cascade effects. Used exclusion barriers and manual abundance adjustments in a factorial design.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 1 paper using this protocol.

Procedure as described in the canonical source

Steps below were extracted from the paper that introduces this protocol — Short-term, low-level nitrogen deposition dampens a trophic cascade between bears and plants (2018), Ecology and Evolution. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

Select and prepare experimental plants
Choose four rabbitbrush plants in each enclosure (total = 144 plants) with similar flowering bud phenology and size for experimentation. Ant and treehopper treatments were randomly assigned within each enclosure. Vegetation surrounding each plant was trimmed to limit ant access and treehopper migration.
Quantities: 4 plants per enclosure, 144 plants total, factorially crossed treatmentsDuration: Plant selection and preparation in 2012Conditions: Similar flowering bud phenology and size selection criteria
Equipment: vegetation trimming tools
Apply foraging ant exclusion treatment
Exclude foraging ants using sticky 'tanglefoot' barriers (Scotts Company, Marysville, OH) at the base of plants. Barriers were effective in containing thatch ants, but smaller ant species and other arthropods were able to climb over the barriers, as well as jump, float or fly in and out of the enclosures.
Quantities: Applied to randomly assigned plants within factorial designDuration: Maintained throughout 2012 growing seasonConditions: Effective for thatch ants but not smaller species
Equipment: sticky 'tanglefoot' barriers (Scotts Company, Marysville, OH)
Manipulate treehopper abundance
Adjust treehopper abundances to obtain an initial presence of 60 nymphs per plant on July 17; treehopper absence was maintained manually at the start of the experiment and three surveys over the following three weeks. Treehopper nymphs are sedentary and abundances were adjusted after most nymphs had been born, but a few additional nymphs may have been born on plants or migrated from senescent host plants during the experiment.