Distribution and Abundance of Different Insect Species at York University's Grasslands Using Sweep Technique - Lab 3

The purpose of this experiment was to determine insects’ distribution and abundance in an environment using distance based sampling and random sampling, as well as identify the amount of different insect species. The experiment was done at York University’s grassland at approximately 3pm on September 28, 2015. It was about 17 degrees Celsius, cloudy and chilly. The grassland was a bit damp due to rain earlier that day. The grounds were all covered with long pieces of grass and there were some garbage found on the ground. My partner Elaine and I used transect tape and sweep technique to capture insects. We walked to the very far north east from the entrance of the grassland and laid down the transect tape measuring 80 feet from east to west. Sweeping was done each 40 feet increment for 18 seconds each. After every 18 seconds, the number of insects captured was counted as well as the different kinds of insects. So a total of two sets of data was collected for each transect we laid down. This was then repeated four more times, and the transect tape was laid down approximately 4 feet west each time. This was to ensure that the data collected was representative of the total grassland area.