A Comparison of Activity Traps and Sweep Nets for Sampling Nektonic Invertebrates in Wetlands

Activity traps were compared to sweep nets for sampling nektonic invertebrates in shallow freshwater wetlands using Kendall Rank Correlation. There was a significant correlation for total invertebrates. The presence of fish and invertebrate predators in the activity traps, water temperature, and water depth did not affect the significance of the correlation for total invertebrates. The correlations for the two functional groups considered, herbivore-detritivores and predator-parasites, were significant. The presence of fish in the activity trap did affect the correlations for some individual taxa. There were no correlations for several taxa of predaceous invertebrates. Considering its advantages and limitations, the activity trap can be useful in many types of experimental and long-term studies of nektonic invertebrates.