Luquillo LTER

Bracts of plants selected for collection were numbered; fluid from each bract was pipetted into a separate bottle at the sampling site. Each individual bract was then cut from the inflorescence and placed in a bag, together with its respective fluid sample bottle. In the laboratory, fluid amount was measured. Bracts were dissected individually and all organisms recovered by washing and brushing with water from the individual floral components and, with organisms from the bract fluid, preserved for counting and identification. For details see Richardson, B.A., Rogers, C. and Richardson, M.J. 2000. Nutrients, diversity and community structure of two phytotelm systems in a lower montane forest, Puerto Rico. Ecological Entomology 25: 348-356; and Richardson, B.A. and Hull, G.A. 2000. Insect colonisation sequences in bracts of Heliconia caribaea in Puerto Rico. Ecological Entomology 25: 460-466