AudioMoths are small audio devices that can be hung up. The recording times are preset in advance, and you can also set the frequency range in which the AudioMoth records.

The human ear perceives frequencies between 16 and 20,000 Hertz. This means we miss many sounds around us. However, the AudioMoth can record frequencies up to 384,000 Hertz. With various apps, the recorded sounds can be visualized and made audible to the human ear. Even bat calls, which are around 180,000 Hertz, can be captured this way. Primarily, we used the AudioMoths to study the bird diversity at our experimental site.

Barber traps, also known as pitfall traps, are primarily used to capture ground-dwelling insects, such as ground beetles, bees, ants, and arachnids. The pitfall trap is a bottle placed into a previously drilled hole in the ground. A funnel guides passing animals into the bottle. The bottle in the pitfall trap contains saltwater, which has a preservative effect on the captured animals, allowing the trap to remain on the site for several days.

Colored bowls are used to capture the diversity of flying insects. They consist of a wooden stick and a plastic bowl that has been sprayed yellow. A little water is added to the bowl to capture the insects. To prevent the insects from landing on the water and flying away due to surface tension, a drop of dish soap is added to the water.

We left the colored bowls in the meadow for 48 hours. Afterward, we analyzed and identified the captured insects as accurately as possible.

Sweep netting is used to capture animals sitting or flying in the flower zone. We walk along predetermined lines with a net, making one sweep with each step. At the end of the line, we close the net and count the animals inside.

Plant transects are used to assess plant diversity. A 1x1 meter square frame is placed on a random spot in the meadow, and the diversity of plants within that frame is analyzed. For statistical purposes, it is useful to estimate the percentage of each plant species, e.g., 70% grass, 10% clover, 1% plantain, 5% bare soil, and 4% dandelion.