The Edge Effect on Insect Abundance

Data collected to explore the edge effect on insect abundance. Observations were recorded on two different days at the same time with very wet conditions at Danby wood grasslands. Researchers located the edges of the grassland and laid out 25 meters of transect tape starting from the edge towards the center of the field. The "edge" was any area where the grassland seemed to "end", such as the area between the grasslands and the woodlot, or along a footpath. Next small holes were dug for the pitfall traps, which were placed 5-6 meters apart from each other along the transect. Afterwards researchers placed a quadrat on each trap and measured the vegetation abundance by estimating the number of individual grasses and plants. This process was done on 4 different transects, 5 pitfalls each thus a total of 20 surveys.

本数据集为探究边缘效应（edge effect）对昆虫丰度的影响而采集。观测于两个不同日期的同一时段开展，实验地点为丹比林地草原（Danby wood grasslands），当日环境极为潮湿。研究人员首先划定草原的边缘区域——此处的"边缘"指草原看似终止的地带，例如草原与林块（woodlot）之间的区域，或是沿步道的区域；随后沿该边缘朝向草原中心布设25米长的样带卷尺。研究人员沿样带以5至6米的间距挖掘小型坑洼，用于安置陷阱诱捕器（pitfall traps）。随后，研究人员在每个陷阱上方放置样方（quadrat），并通过估算单株草本与植物的数量来测定植被丰度。本实验共设置4条样带，每条样带布设5个陷阱，总计完成20次调查采样。