Lab 3- Insects Abundance In Woodlots and Grasslands

<b>Metadata: </b> <b>Quadrant Number:</b> The amount of trials which are represented on what number quadrant is being observed so far. 10 trials were used and observed or each site. Quadrants were randomly placed along the site (grassland or woodlot). <b>Site:</b> Area of which the quadrant was placed and observed. This was either the Danby Grassland or the Danby Woodlots of York University Keele campus. <b>Abundance:</b> The total number on insects that were still in the quadrant after the 1 minute of observation was done. If an insect went into the quadrant and flew away, they were not counted. An insect was counted as anything that was smaller than a baseball and had more than 4 legs and had a pair of antennas. <b>Number of RTUs:</b> Recognizable Taxonomic units. The number of RTU was determined visually by the observer. 1 RTU was counted if the insect was morphologically different from another insect. Morphologically different meant different size, colour, number of appendages, type of appendages and method of travelling. If any insects differed in any one of these criteria, they were counted as 1 RTU. If the insects share the same features for all the criteria, they were all counted as 1 RTU. <b>Site Description: </b> Data was collected at the Danby Grassland and Danby Woodlot at the York University Keele campus. It was cloudy with bits of sun peaking through, had gentle breezes and was approximately 20 degrees Celsius. Information recorded was taken from 2:30 to 4:30 pm on Wednesday September the 28^th,2016. The Danby Grassland had a lot of vegetation, that were no higher than a meter tall. Vegetation included: grass, variations of flowers, clovers, small shrubs. The Danby Woodlot mostly consisted of trees approximately 25 meters tall. There were also smaller tree saplings. Woodlot floors had open soil covered in fallen leaves and branches. <b> </b> <b>Methods: </b> A 1 meter by 1 meter quadrant was placed in a random area in either the Danby Grassland or the Danby Woodlot. Each quadrant was observed visually for a total of 2 minutes. During the observation, the total number of insects inside the quadrant and the number of recognizable taxonomic units (RTUs) were determined visually. After visual determination, the number of insects and RTUs in the quadrant were counted and recorded. This method was repeated a total of 10 times in the Danby grassland and a total 10 times in the Danby Woodlot. For each repeat, a new random area in that region was picked before placing the 1 meter by 1 meter quadrant down. <b>Hypothesis: </b> The site, Danby (Woodlot or Danby Grassland) affects the abundance and the number of RTUs there are in a quadrant and area in general. There is a higher abundance of insect and number of RTUs if the site is in the grassland. This is because the grasslands have higher amount of vegetation and different types of vegetation compared to the woodlots, which increases the diversity of the region. This increase in diversity allows for higher number of insects and different types of insects to live and survive since they have a variety of resources they can use. <b>Prediction</b>: The Danby grassland site will have a higher abundance of insects. The Danby grassland site will have a higher number of RTUs.