Studying the movement behavior of benthic macroinvertebrates with automated video tracking.

ABSTRACT: Quantifying and understanding movement is critical for a wide range of questions in basic and applied ecology. Movement ecology is also fostered by technological advances that allow automated tracking for a wide range of animal species. However, for aquatic macroinvertebrates, such detailed methods do not yet exist. We developed a video tracking method for two different species of benthic macroinvertebrates, the crawling isopod Asellus aquaticus and the swimming fresh water amphipod Gammarus pulex. We tested the effects of different light sources and marking techniques on their movement behavior to establish the possibilities and limitations of the experimental protocol and to ensure that the basic handling of test specimens would not bias conclusions drawn from movement path analyses. To

SUBMITTER: Augusiak J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4409406 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature