Sweep Net Transects In York University Grasslands

Data for this experiment was collected around 3:30 pm on Tuesday September 27, 2015 at the edge of a grassland on York University's Keele campus. It was a cool and rainy day with steady winds. The experiment was performed on a random section of the mowed part of the grassland. A transect measuring tape was extended 30 m and laid down. It was slowly walked along while sweeping in a steady full-range-sweep motion until the end of the transect. The sweep net was emptied carefully and the number of insects were counted and visually grouped into recognizable taxonomic units (RTUs). The total number of RTUs were then also counted and recorded. The transect was then moved five steps to the right of, and parallel to the original transect placement. It was walked along in the same manner as before, and the same variables were counted as well. This process was repeated for a total of five transects.

本实验的数据采集于2015年9月27日周二下午约3:30，采集地点为约克大学基尔校区（York University's Keele campus）的一处草原边缘。当日天气阴冷多雨，风速稳定。实验选取该草原修剪区域的随机区段开展：首先展开并铺设一条30米长的样带卷尺，随后以匀速全程扫网的动作沿样带缓慢行进直至终点。采集完成后小心清空扫网，对其中的昆虫进行计数，并通过目视将其归类为可识别分类单元（recognizable taxonomic units, RTUs），随后统计并记录总可识别分类单元数量。接着将样带平移至原样带右侧五步处，且保持与原样带平行，以相同方式沿新样带行进并统计相同变量。上述流程共重复五次，完成五条样带的数据采集工作。