yorku.grassland.woodlot.sept27-2016

<b>PAN TRAP META-DATA</b> <b>Description of Data Column Headers:</b> <b>Pan Trap:</b> Twenty plastic bowls, 17.5 centimetres (cm) in diameter and 4.5 centimetres (cm) in depth, were filled with 60 millilitres (mL) and randomly placed, ten in the grassland and ten in the woodlot. <b>Colour:</b> The colour of each bowl was classified into three categories, blue, white or yellow.<b>Habitat Type:</b> The habitats under study were classified into two categories, grassland or woodlot. <b>Number of Insects:</b> The total number of insects captured in each bowl. <b>Number of Species (rtus):</b> The number of different insect species or recognizable taxonomic units per sample (rtus) found in each bowl.<b>Additional Information:</b> <b>Date and Time of Data Collection: </b>This survey was conducted on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 from 3:25p.m. to 4:22p.m. <b>Field Site: </b>The field site was located on the York University - Keele Campus in a grassland and woodlot near Keele Street and York Boulevard (Latitude 43.78° N, Longitude 79.50° W). The conditions were partly cloudy with a moderate breeze, and 20 degrees Celsius. The grassland was approximately 200m by 350m wide and tall trees were found along its perimeter. The woodlot was approximately 350m by 500m wide. <b>Methods: </b>Twenty plastic bowls were used randomly placed on the field site, ten in the grassland and ten in the woodlot. The plastic bowls were each filled with approximately 60mL of soapy water and left for the duration of the lab. The plastic bowls were revisited at the end of the lab and the number of insects within each plastic bowl was counted and recorded. Following, the number of species in each plastic bowl was counted and recorded to obtain the number of recognizable taxonomic units per sample (rtus). <b>Details of Data: </b>The data obtained in this experiment is both categorical and continuous as the data was recorded in categories for 'habitat type' (grassland or woodlot) and 'colour' (blue, white or yellow), and recorded numerically for number of insects and number of species (rtus). The data for recognizable taxonomic units per sample (rtus) was collected and recorded by classifying each different species in the pan trap. <b>Hypothesis: </b>It was hypothesized that insects are more attracted to vibrant-coloured pan traps than dark-coloured pan traps, as vibrant-coloured pan traps are a better representation to the organisms they feed on in their habitat. <b>Prediction: </b>It was predicted that a higher number of insects and recognizable taxonomic units per sample (rtus) would be captured in the yellow pan traps than in the blue pan traps.