Lab 3 Dataset 3- Sweep test along transects

The data was collected at Danby Grassland at York University Keele Campus on Thursday October 1 2015 at approximately 4:20pm. The duration of the experiment took approximately 25 mins and was completed at around 4:45pm. The temperature was 15°C and it was sunny with clear skies. The area site where the sweep nets took place was large, dry and open area. The vegetation increased as you went further into the site. The experiment was done in groups of four and each dataset was divided amongst the group members; Azeb, Eman, Bava and Saraswatie. This particular dataset was conducted by Azeb with the help of Eman. The organisms caught were primarily misquotes and bees. The purpose of this lab was to determine the distribution and abundance of mobile organisms in a short amount of time. This lab was also meant for students to become familiar with the tools used in the experiment, such and transect and sweep nets, and publishing data found in the field .The sample size for this dataset is 10. The data was collected by randomly laying out 10 meters transects across Danby Grassland and vigorously sweeping the net left to right in a diagonal pattern to prevent captured organisms from escaping. Once reaching the end of each transect, the sweeper would enclose the net with their hand and lift the net to observe the finding. This was repeated 10 times which took approximately 45 seconds each and was recorded using pen and paper in an organized chart. This was done to obtain an accurate representation of the site. Total abundance was obtained by counting the number or living organisms caught in the net by the end of each transect. The number of recognizable taxonomic units (#RTU’s) was determined by visually identifying each organism and mentally categorizing them into groups based on physical features such and colour, size, number of legs and wings etc. Once determining the general species the number of different species caught is that recorded.