Flower abundance and pan traps affect on insect abundance in Danby Grassland

This experiment was conducted in Danby grassland of York University on October 15 and 22, 2015. The area consisted of mostly dead flowers (brown stems and wilted flowers) and slightly dead grass (long grass of brown and green colour most of which did not stand straight and were flattened close to the soil) in both H (high flower areas) and L (low flower) areas. The L areas had dead leaves on the ground due to the wind blowing leaves from nearby trees. On October 15, 2015 it was cloudy (not that great lighting but enough to count the insects), had intervals of rainfall and the temperature was 17 degrees Celsius with wind speed of 23 kilometers per hour. On October 22, 2015 it was sunny (well-lit area) with temperature of 14 degrees Celsius and wind speed of 23 kilometers per hour. Both collections took place from 3:00-5:00pm.

The purpose of this experiment was to test the effect that pan traps of different colours and flower presence have towards insect abundance. This effect was shown by counting the number of insects attracted and in the pan traps with soapy water in areas with and without high flower presence.

The materials needed for this experiment per week are the pan trap bowls of 3 separate colours (8 yellow bowls, 8 blue and 8 white), 2 transect tapes, paper and pen to write the observations.

The 4 meter transects was laid in areas where there was high flower presence (total of 20 or more flowers on either side of the 4 meter transect line) and another 4 meter transect was laid where there was low flower presence (total of 5 or less flowers on either side of the transect line). At every 1 meter 90 degrees perpendicular to the transect lines 3 bowls one of each colour (white, blue and yellow) respectively was laid on the ground. The bowls were pressed down on the grass to avoid the soapy water from being spilled before the soapy water was added. All the bowls were placed on one side of the transect tape making the white bowl the closest to the transect tape. The bowls rims were touching each other. The bowls were filled half way with soapy water. We would just use our eyes and see what half way would be. We then waited 2 hours and then visually count the abundance of insects in each bowls in both areas. This experiment was repeated the following week (October 22, 2015). The sample size was n=48 by the end of 2 weeks.

The group members including myself are Simranjit Kang, Ava Kamali and Katrin Chapkis.

本实验于2015年10月15日与22日在约克大学丹比草原（Danby grassland of York University）开展。实验涉及的高花区域（H组）与低花区域（L组）均以枯花（棕褐色茎秆与萎蔫花朵）及半枯草本为主：草株呈棕绿相间，多数无法直立，贴近地面倒伏。其中L组区域因周边树木落叶经风吹落至地面，存有大量枯败叶片。
2015年10月15日为阴天，光照条件一般但足以完成昆虫计数，期间存在间歇性降雨，气温17摄氏度，风速23千米/小时；10月22日为晴天，光照充足，气温14摄氏度，风速仍为23千米/小时。两次数据采集均于当日15:00-17:00进行。
本实验旨在探究不同颜色的盘式诱捕器（pan traps）与花卉存在情况对昆虫丰度的影响，通过在高花与低花区域内，对盛有肥皂水的盘式诱捕器中被吸引并捕获的昆虫数量进行计数，以验证该效应。
本实验每周所需耗材包括3种颜色的盘式诱捕碗（黄色、蓝色、白色各8个）、2条样带卷尺（transect tapes）以及用于记录观测数据的纸笔。
在高花区域（4米样带两侧总计花卉数量≥20朵）布设4米长样带，同时在低花区域（4米样带两侧总计花卉数量≤5朵）布设另一组4米长样带。沿样带每间隔1米，垂直于样带方向布设3个不同颜色的诱捕碗（分别为白色、蓝色、黄色），所有诱捕碗均布置于样带卷尺的同侧，其中白色诱捕碗最贴近样带，且碗体边缘相互贴合。布设前需将碗体按压入草地，防止注入肥皂水后液体洒出。随后向每个碗中注入约半量的肥皂水，半量高度以肉眼估算为准。
布设完成后等待2小时，随后目视计数每个诱捕碗内的昆虫丰度。本实验于次周（2015年10月22日）重复开展，两周后最终样本量为n=48。
参与本实验的组员包括我本人、Simranjit Kang、Ava Kamali与Katrin Chapkis。