Lab 3: Biol2050 Abundance and Diversity Data Set 1

The experiment was conducted for the third biol2050 lab for dataset 1. The experiment was performed in the woodlot, and grassland at York University on Thursday Oct 1st, 2015 at approximately 330-415pm. The weather during this time was 15 degrees Celsius, with 0% chance of rain, and wind with the speed of 24 km/h. When the wind speed was found in the Beaufort scale, it was given a Beaufort number of 5, which corresponded to Fresh Breeze in Seaman's term. Group Members: Simranjit Kang, Ava Kamali, Katrin Chapkis, Jennifer Mariathas The purpose of the lab was to understand, and gain knowledge about the process of calculating the abundance of insects as well as the number of recognizable taxonomic units (RTU's) using a quadrat in both grasslands, and woodlots. The sample size in this experiment was 10 replicates in the grassland, and 10 replicates in the woodlot for a total of 20. The quadrats were placed randomly within each habitat of interest, 1 meter apart from one another. The quadrat was placed 10 times in the grassland, and 10 times in the woodlot, and a total of 30 seconds were measured each time using a timer on one of the group member's phone. During that time the number of insects that were inside or had flown over the quadrat were calculated as well as the # of RTU's, and both were recorded using a paper and pen. 2 of the 4 group members participated in observing the quadrat carefully to decrease the chances of possible error. As previously stated the weather during this lab was windy, and relatively cold, and this may have affected the number of insects identified. The ground in the grassland was almost completely covered by grass which made it very difficult to identify the insects as well. All the data calculated was presented in a table.