Ecology 2050- Insect abundance VS. Pan Colours and Environment condition

Authors: Katrin Chapkis, Ava Kamali, Simranjit Kang, Jennifer Mariatha This experiment was conducted during two three hours sessions on Oct 15 and Oct 22, 2015 from 2:30PM to 5:30PM at grasslands, located adjacent to woodlots at Keele campus, York University. On Oct 15, the weather was cloudy and rainy with a temperature of 17 degrees Celsius. According to Beaufort Wind Force Scale, the wind speed was 4 which specifies a moderate breeze with a range wind speed of 13 to 18 mph. On the second day of experiment, Oct 22, the weather was partially sunny and cloudy with temperature of 14 degrees Celsius and Beaufort wind speed of 4. The temperatures for both sessions were interpreted as cold and the weather was not in its best condition, therefore there might have been a significant effect on the movement of insects. The purpose for this experiment was to observe whether three different pan colours and absence/presence of flowers attract insects differently. Also it was a good practice to develop teamwork and familiarize with designing and collecting our own experiment and data. For each session, soapy water, two transects and 12 plastic pans, which consist of three colours with ratio of 4 yellow: 4 white: 4 blue, were prepared and used. By observing the field, two distinct areas with certain characteristics were chosen as follow: one with flowers in great numbers and the other one mostly covered with grass. Distinction among the two areas was made based on our own assumptions. A transect line of 4 meters was laid across each selected area being studied. It was assumed if the number of flowers across that 4 meters were equal or less than five, the area will be recorded as ‘absence of flowers’; and if the flowers’ number were equal or greater than 20, the area will be recorded as ‘presence of flowers’. This step was repeated several times until the two distinct and preferred areas were found. Moreover, in each setting, 4 sets of white: blue: yellow plastic pans were lined perpendicular to the 4 meter transect line, each set 1 meter apart. The placement orders of pan colours were kept constant for each transects during two sessions. Furthermore, the soapy water was added to each plastic pan and group members left both areas to avoid any disturbance. After waiting for approximately two hours the numbers of insects (abundance) trapped in each pan for both areas was recorded.