The impact of location and colour on the diversity and abundance of insects at York University

<b>Meta data:</b>Replicates: The total number of bowls places randomly in both grassland and woodlot Number of insects: it’s a continuous variable, which shows the total number of individuals visualized and counted in the bowl. Bowl colour: it’s a categorical variable which shows the different colours which the bowl may have; yellow, blue or white. . Rtus (recognizable taxonomic unit): it’s a continuous variable which represents the total number of different identified insects visualized in bowl and can represent diversity. Study site it’s a categorical variable and represents the location of habitat used for measuring the abundance and diversity of insects; woodlot or grassland.<b>Method:</b> On Monday, September 26^th 2016, the data was collected on a rainy day with the temperature of 17 °C, approximately at 3:00 pm. The woodlots and grasslands of Saywell Woods at York University were chosen for data collection. This experiment was conducted with the help of Fatin Anwar, a student of Biol 2050 course. 20 bowls with three colors of yellow, blue and white were obtained and each was filled with soapy water up to an inch. For each grassland and woodlot, 10 bowls were placed randomly, by taking random number of steps away from each bowl. The number of steps was determined using a random-number-generator application on iPhone. After waiting for an hour, the number of insects and the number of different recognizable taxonomic units (rtus) was measured through visualization and counting. <b>Hypothesis:</b>There will be more insects in woodlots than grassland, specifically on the bowls, which mimic the color of their natural habitat. The reason is that due to environmental condition, more diversity in terms of habitat is available for insects. In addition, if the colour of the bowl is more similar to the habitat that these insects live, such as trees or flowers, the chances of insect being trapped in the bowl is also higher. <b>Prediction:</b>The most number of insects and rtus would be found on the bowls with yellow colour and placed in woodlots, since there are more insects found in woodlots and the yellow colour mimics the colour of flowers which many flies can notice.Moreover, the least number of insects and rtus would be found on blue bowls found in the grassland. Because they’re less similar to insects natural habitat and the colour of the bowl is least similar to the colour which insect can usually see.

元数据：
1. 重复样 (Replicates)：表征在草地与林地生境中随机布设的诱捕碗总数量
2. 昆虫数量：连续型变量，用于表征诱捕碗内观测并计数的昆虫个体总数
3. 诱捕碗颜色：分类变量，涵盖黄、蓝、白三种配色的诱捕碗
4. 可识别分类单元 (Recognizable Taxonomic Unit, RTU)：连续型变量，代表诱捕碗内观测到的已辨识昆虫类群总数，可用于表征昆虫多样性
5. 样地类型：分类变量，表征用于调查昆虫丰度与多样性的生境类型，涵盖林地与草地两类

实验方法：数据采集于2016年9月26日周一，当日为雨天，气温17℃，采集时间约为下午3时。本次实验选取约克大学塞维尔林地（Saywell Woods）的林地与草地作为采样区域，由Biol 2050课程学生Fatin Anwar协助完成。共准备黄、蓝、白三色诱捕碗共20个，每个碗内装入约1英寸深的肥皂水。在草地与林地中各随机放置10个诱捕碗，碗间间距通过iPhone上的随机数生成应用程序确定步数来设定。静置1小时后，通过观测计数完成诱捕碗内昆虫数量与可识别分类单元数的统计。

实验假说：林地中的昆虫数量将多于草地，尤其当诱捕碗颜色模拟昆虫自然生境色彩时。原因在于，林地生境可为昆虫提供更为丰富的栖息多样性；此外，若诱捕碗颜色与昆虫栖息的生境（如树木或花卉）更为相似，则昆虫被诱捕的概率也将更高。

实验预测：放置于林地内的黄色诱捕碗中，昆虫数量与可识别分类单元数将为最多。这是由于林地内昆虫种群更为丰富，且黄色可模拟多数蝇类可识别的花卉色彩。与之相反，放置于草地内的蓝色诱捕碗中昆虫数量与可识别分类单元数将为最少，因其与昆虫的自然栖息环境相似度较低，且该蓝色也与昆虫常规可辨识的色彩差异较大。