The Spillway or City Park: Which has more arthropod diversity?
Author: Madeline Lafargue BIOS1071-007
Group Members: Rebecca Ostrowski and Khayla Wright
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to find out how habitat type affects arthropod diversity. There are many different types of arthropods, making up the majority of animal life on Earth. Arthropods vary among different climates and conditions, including some near water habitats and some habitats without water. The following experiment compared arthropod diversity and abundance in two different habitats—one near water, and one not near water.
INTRODUCTION
The question being, “how does arthropod diversity vary among different habitats?” two different habitats were used …show more content…
Four traps were set up at each habitat. Both habitats were within the same climate and experienced the same weather. Over the course of the experiment, each trap was checked periodically and its contents were emptied to see what arthropods were captured.
Using the taxonomy guide given in lab, the specimens were identified and classified. The specimens were counted to find the number of individuals from each habitat. The results were then analyzed by T-tests to find P-values for abundance, richness, and evenness.
RESULTS
The two habitats yielded very different results. Habitat 1’s results yielded much more arthropod abundance and diversity, while Habitat 2 had much less. Habitat 1 collected a total of 404 arthropods while Habitat 2 collected only 88 arthropods. There was a significant difference between the two habitats in richness (0.29538), but no significant difference in evenness (0.43106) or abundance (0.03706).
DISCUSSION The hypothesis that arthropod abundance and diversity near water would out-number those not near water was rejected. The results varied much more than expected. The weakness of this study was mainly inadequate time to collect for Habitat 2 because of a group
Author: Madeline Lafargue BIOS1071-007
Group Members: Rebecca Ostrowski and Khayla Wright
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to find out how habitat type affects arthropod diversity. There are many different types of arthropods, making up the majority of animal life on Earth. Arthropods vary among different climates and conditions, including some near water habitats and some habitats without water. The following experiment compared arthropod diversity and abundance in two different habitats—one near water, and one not near water.
INTRODUCTION
The question being, “how does arthropod diversity vary among different habitats?” two different habitats were used …show more content…
Four traps were set up at each habitat. Both habitats were within the same climate and experienced the same weather. Over the course of the experiment, each trap was checked periodically and its contents were emptied to see what arthropods were captured.
Using the taxonomy guide given in lab, the specimens were identified and classified. The specimens were counted to find the number of individuals from each habitat. The results were then analyzed by T-tests to find P-values for abundance, richness, and evenness.
RESULTS
The two habitats yielded very different results. Habitat 1’s results yielded much more arthropod abundance and diversity, while Habitat 2 had much less. Habitat 1 collected a total of 404 arthropods while Habitat 2 collected only 88 arthropods. There was a significant difference between the two habitats in richness (0.29538), but no significant difference in evenness (0.43106) or abundance (0.03706).
DISCUSSION The hypothesis that arthropod abundance and diversity near water would out-number those not near water was rejected. The results varied much more than expected. The weakness of this study was mainly inadequate time to collect for Habitat 2 because of a group