Determining the Effect of Leaf Litter Coverage and Life Stage of Neighbouring Tree on Woodlot Insect Abundance

The purpose of the dataset is to determine how the amount of leaf litter on the ground and the life stage of neighbouring tree affects insect abundance in the Danby Woodlot at York University near Keele Street. A 1 m by 1 m quadrat was randomly placed beside the north side of an adult or sapling tree in the woodlot. An orange flagging tape was then wrapped around the neighbouring tree of the sample to prevent sampling in the same place. The percentage of the leaf litter coverage within the quadrat and the life stage of the neighbouring tree was visually determined and then recorded. All ages of leaf litter were included in the sample. Trees that are 2 m or taller are recorded as adult, otherwise recorded as sapling. The insect abundance in the quadrat was determined visually, physically counted for a duration of 3 minutes, and then recorded. The sampling procedure is performed for a total of 100 times in different areas of the woodlot. 50 of them were beside an adult tree, and the other 50 were beside a sapling tree. Data was collected on two different day. The first 50 data were collected during a partly cloudy day on October 14, 2015 from 2:55 pm to 4:45 pm. The temperature was about 12 degree Celsius and there was a slight breeze. The ground was mainly dry. The rest of the data were collected during an overcast day on October 21, 2015 from 3:05 pm to 4:45 pm. The temperature was about 9 degree Celsius and it was windy enough for small branches to sway. The ground was quite moist. More leaves have appeared on the woodlot's ground on the second day. Data was collected by Mandy Huynh, Dylan Stoll, Mariam Nnanna, and Jordan Deosamy. We splitted into group of twos to collect the data faster. Mariam and I worked together, while Dylan and Jordan worked together. Each group had a 1 m by 1 m quadrat and a roll of flagging tape. Each group sampled a total of 50 different area in the woodlot. Everyone had a chance to place the flagging tape on trees, use the timer, determine amount of leaf litter coverage, determine life stage of neighbouring tree, count insects, and record the data.