Abundance of Insects In Danby Woods Grasslands

This experiment took place on September 28th 2015 at approximately 2:30pm. The location of this experiment was at York University Keele Campus at its Danby woods grasslands. The conditions were very cloudy with a temperature of approximately 15-18 degrees Celsius. The area was very damp due to rain that occured before the experiment took place. The purpose of this experiment was to use the sweet net sampling technique to estimate population density and insect populations. Transects that were 15 meters long were place along the grassland facing south to north. A sweepnet was used to collect any insects along the transect for 40 seconds. The sweepnet did not touch the ground and was used to sweep only along the grass and plants. After the 40 seconds, the insects inside the net would be noted for the number of insects, the different recognizeable taxonomic units (RTUs) and the number of RTU's. When the insects are all accounted for, the net would then be flipped inside out to prevent any insects from remaining inside the net. This process was replicated 9 more times. Everytime the transect was moved for the next replicate, the transect would be moved 10 meters east running south to north. The group members that contributed to this experiment were Richer Lai, Felicia O, Dylan C, and Brandon B.