Analysis of capture efficiency of pitfall traps for the National Ecosystem Survey of Korea

Abstract The National Ecosystem Survey of South Korea aims to understand the nationwide distributional status of various species of flora and fauna. This study aimed to determine the optimal number of pitfall traps needed to survey insects as part of the National Ecosystem Survey and the suitability of using baits in these traps. Twenty (the current number of pitfall traps used in the National Ecosystem Survey) nonbaited traps (NBTs) and five additional baited traps (BTs) (commonly used by researchers) were installed to analyze and compare capture efficiency between methods. Analysis showed that when using NBTs alone, at least 100 traps are needed to capture all species of a survey site. However, the same capture rates can be achieved by installing 15 NBTs and 5 BTs. Therefore, the results of this study confirm that the most effective survey method using pitfall traps requires a combination of NBTs and BTs rather than the current method of installing 20 NBTs alone.