The effect of moisture and location on insect abundance

The purpose of this experiment was to see how the moisture levels in both a grassland and woodlot would effect the abundance of insects in those areas. The experiment was done by myself and my groupmates, Keerthana, Amena, Hinal, and Antoni. The location of the experiment was in the Danby Woodlot at York University. It was conducted over two days, October 19th 2015 and October 26th 2015 from 2:30pm-5:30pm. On the first day of data collection it was approximately 14 degrees celcius, partly cloudy, winds were 26km/h and humidity was 49%. On the second day it was approximately 9 degrees celsius, broken clouds, winds were 14km/h and humidity was 57%. It is important to note these weather conditions becasue they contribute to our moisture and location variables. To start the experiment a starting point was chosen in the grassland and a random number generator was used to determine the number of steps that would be taken before placing the quadrat. The moisture meter was then used to determine how moist the soil was in that quadrat. For five minutes the quadrat was observed and the number and names of each species seen in that quadrat were recorded. This was done a total of 60 times in the grassland. These steps were repeated again in the woodlot after designating another starting point and using the random number generator to determine the number of steps taken. Another 60 repetitions were done in the woodlot to give us a total of 120 repetitions.