Abundance and Diversity of the York University Grasslands

This experiment was completed on the grasslands found within York University, with the objective to record the population of species, and the number of Recognizable Taxonomic Units. Using transect tape and sweeps nets we were able to capture insects found in the grasslands and record the number of insects and RTUs. Firstly, transect tape was layed down along the width of the grasslands and the distance was recorded, and found to be 18 meters. A trial run was conducted in order to determine the time taken to walk along the 18 meter transect tape while using the sweep nets and was found to be 25 seconds. My partner Savannah and I decided to use these variables ( 18 meters and 25 seconds) for the 10 repetitions required for this experiment. After the completion of each repetition we observed the contents in the net and recorded the number of insects and recognizable taxonomic units. After the data was collected, we moved the transect tape 6 meters down the lenght of the grasslands to ensure data from a larger area was collected. This was repeated 10 times in order to meet the repetition requirement.