Here we go: now pitfall traps are collecting critters on the ground at the #alpine plateau of Ben Avon, in the #CairngormsNationalPark in the Scottish #Highlands. 🕷️🪲🐛

Four habitat types, three pitfall traps each: looking forward!
Maybe we can find some new records of soil invertebrates? The chances are high, as alpine soil fauna studies are rare in the UK.

Thanks to Andrea Britton and Debbie Fielding from #jameshuttonInstitute for helping do field work! ✌️

#BEN_EAF #AlpSoil_Lab #MountainSoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #Scotland

Here some good news for the #MEB network (microclimate ecology & biogeography, former #SoilTemp).
New #TOMST soil temperature and soil humidity loggers are now installed in alpine habitats of the #ScottishHighlands, in the #Cairngorms National Park. 🌡️

#BEN_EAF #SoilTemperature #Microclimate #Biogeography #JamesHuttonInstitute #AlpSoil_Lab #SoilHumidity

While samplings of #alpine beasties in the #Cairngorms #NationalPark for my #BEN_EAF project at the #JamesHuttonInstitute are still in the preparation, here some impressions of the critters I've found while hiking.
As temperatures go up, so more activity is expected, right?
? 🤓🕷️🐛🪱🧬

#NatureScot #ScottishHighlands #Highlands #AlpineSoils #AlpSoil_Lab #SoilFauna #SoilBiodiversity

Preparations for my #BEN_EAF project as visiting scientist at the #JamesHuttonInstitute are still ongoing, but I could hike in the Scottish #Highlands already!

Looking forward to taking #alpine #SoilFauna samples (cores and pitfall traps) and to compare these with #eDNA samplings. 🕷️🧬

#MountainSoilBiodiversity #Scotland #Aberdeenshire #Cairngorms