The Influence of Abiotic Factors on Insect Abundance

The influence of temperature, vegetation, environment, and pan colour on the abundance and variation of insects were investigated during a two day observation, at York University’s Keele Campus. On day one, the temperature during the collection of observations was noted by checking The Weather Network at the time of study. Three different environments were investigated for insect abundance – disturbed area, grassland, and woodlot. Starting off in the disturbed area, a transect tape was pulled to 45 metres, and a sample size of 15 pans was placed along this straight path. Five yellow pans, five blue pans, and five white pans were alternatively placed along this 45 metre path. Each pan was filled three quarters of the way up with soapy water, and left alone for a total of two hours. During these two hours, the researcher observed the amount of vegetation present in this environment. Vegetation included anything from trees, plants, flowers, weeds, bushes or grass. A scale was constructed to determine vegetation crowding. The number 0 indicated that it was free of vegetation, 1 indicated that it was fairly crowded, and 2 indicated that there was an abundance of vegetation present in the particular location. The vegetation to be considered had to be within 50 cm of the transect tape, that was lined with 15 pans. After the two hour duration was complete, the researcher returned back to the pans on the transect and recorded the pan colour, abundance of insects, recognizable taxonomic units, vegetation crowding and species of insects present in all fifteen pans. This exact procedure was then carried out in both the grassland and woodlot. A week later, this same procedure was precisely carried out in the same locations – disturbed, grassland, and woodlot and the temperature of that day was recorded according to The Weather Network. The criteria for vegetation remained the same, and the abundance of insects, recognizable taxonomic units, and species of insects present was noted. The transect tape was pulled to a distance of 45 metres once again, and a sample size of 15 pans (5 of each colour) was used, placed 3 metres apart.