Protocols

Controlled experiment manipulating predator presence by establishing artificial aphid colonies, protecting them from natural predators, then adding lygus bugs to treatment plants. Includes ant bridge ...

Standardized 2-hour baiting experiments using 5 different resource types arranged in pentagonal plots to sample ant communities and assess dominance patterns. Records ant abundance and identity at reg...

Experimental manipulation using physical barriers to exclude ants from aphid colonies while maintaining control colonies with ant access. Uses paired treatment design on same plants to test effects of...

A controlled field experiment testing the effects of nitrogen addition and reduction on plant community composition over 8 years. Annual percent cover monitoring tracked responses of invasive and nati...

Flowers are bagged to prevent natural parasitism, then exposed to controlled introductions of parasitoid wasps or ambient parasitoid activity, followed by assessment of parasitism effects on seed pred...

Plant cover measured using 1 m² quadrats divided into 1 dm² cells, counting filled cells to nearest 0.25 dm². Height measured to maximum plant extension. Volume calculated as cover × height/10.

A two-phase field protocol using training baits scented with plant chemicals followed by two-choice tests to assess whether ants form associative memories linking plant odors to carbohydrate rewards. ...

Experimental advancement of snow melt timing using shade cloth application to test effects on host plant phenology and aphid-plant interactions. Combined with temperature manipulation using open-top w...

PERMANOVA testing of volatile composition differences across species and years, with NMDS visualization of chemical dissimilarity patterns.

Field-based study of ant interactions with pollinators on Helianthella quinquenervis, involving ant identification and behavioral observations. Protocol development included ant keying skills and hone...

Collection of aphid honeydew on aluminum foil substrates followed by LC-MS/MS analysis to quantify sugar and amino acid composition as indicators of plant quality and ant-aphid mutualism benefits.

Exhaustive visual surveys of arthropod abundance on randomly selected male and female plants conducted across multiple years to quantify sex-biased community structure.

Calculation and statistical analysis of plant biomass allocation between vegetative and reproductive tissues using arcsin transformations and three-way ANOVA.

Systematic weekly monitoring of plant phenology, insect abundance, and herbivore impacts on Osha plants along established transects. Includes detailed counts of aphids, ants, and other insects on flow...

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of ant tissues to determine trophic position and dietary composition. Involves specimen preparation, drying, grinding, and mass spectrometry analysis.

Three dominance scores calculated for each species at each site where it occurred to assess competitive hierarchies.

Statistical analysis using subset of main data to assess repeatability of measurements.