My sampling strategies went better than I expected during the first few times I went out monitor ant activity. There was obvious ant activity that made the data collection easy. However, I am currently having some difficulties with my method. We have had some bad weather recently that has made any animal or insect activity scarce. Once the weather clears up, I plan to continue my current method of collection. The only modification may make is checking more frequently. I was going out every few days so as to not be too disruptive and cause a fluctuation in the numbers due to human activity. However, the weather this time of year can vary so greatly at any given moment that taking multiple samples a day (before bad weather and after, morning and afternoon etc) may help me acquire better results. I also need to make sure I wait for it to be warm enough for ants to be out when I go out because some mornings can be cold and have not much activity.
One thing I found surprising is the number of ants changed the day before the weather changed. I went out to collect data and found no ant activity in any of my quadrats. Given the amount I had found previously I was not sure why there was none on the day I went out, especially in areas where the numbers have been consistent.
I concluded that participating in the field research helps gain deep knowledge of the terrestrial diversity and roles offered by the insects. Many insects that I viewed in the field were easily identified using simple identification keys. I also learned that entomologists always investigate insects’ functional traits to solve problems such as deforestation and climate change that are facing the world today. The interactions between the plants and the insects are important to understand since they form the basis for increasing local environmental awareness and conservation.
I always viewed insects as pests; however, this field research has changed my attitudes towards insects. The light-trapping technique produces several live specimens hence enabling me to handle and experience live insects. The insects triggered strong feelings, which were both positive and negative. The feelings were positive because of the shape, colours, and diversity of the insects, while the feelings were negative because of the fear of the bites and diseases. Therefore, educating the importance of insects in the ecosystem using the field experience is very important. I chose the fieldwork as an important activity in the course of the research project. My project results confirmed that observation and collection of the insects during fieldwork can trigger curiosity and interest in the local natural ecosystems, hence increasing conservation awareness. I did not adequately analyze or evaluate my project’s social advantages because of the small number of participants.
The three keywords underlying the processes of my research project are conservation, ecosystem, and insects. Through observation of my study site, I found out that insects are important components of biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to understand and appreciate the several functions of the insects in the ecosystem. Biology teachers intending to conduct field research must first acquire a basic understanding of the ecology to implement the course
I used the Microsoft Excel software to enter and format the collected data. And it contained the quantity of the insects collected, the abundances for every sampling period. I ensured that I worked towards my previously proposed research questions when coming up with the presentations. For the questions that I did not adequately address the collected data, the instructors offered me more guidance and support. I prepared my PowerPoint presentation with 11 slides with the fieldwork pictures and graphics, enough for 10 – 15 minutes oral presentation. I presented anything I found relevant or important to the subjects or topics I learned during fieldwork, lectures, and laboratory, to increase scientific knowledge.
Prior to the arrival at Acadia Research Forest, I explained the protocols of surveying and safety measures to the forest guards. I built two different light traps for the two days and nights in the forest. The first trap had a 2.6 m× 1.6 m white sheet fixed between 2 tree trunks using the ropes. I suspended the 250 W vapour light, powered by the generator on the sheet, to attract the flying insects. I set up the second trap, 600 meters from the first trap, and it shed light on an 80-centimetre cylindrical white sheet employing a 40-centimetre actinic tube. In the day, I employed pitfall traps and aerial fruit traps to collect the ants, spiders, beetles, wasps, and butterflies frequently available in the forest. I, however, only used the light traps to collect the data because this method had diversity and the highest abundance of the insects within the limited sampling time. The light-trapping method is important compared to other techniques because it enables one to closely observe the live insects and interactions like competition and predation. It also offers an important chance of introducing some morphological traits typifying a different insect order.
I used two types of light traps to study and compare the quantity of the insects collected and assemblage composition. I compared the efficiencies of the two light trap methods among different insects, which allowed me to understand the insects’ flight activity. I compared the sampling efficiencies based on getting the main representative species or class of the local ecosystem and getting target group species. I developed a data set structure (order × sample × trap) that I will produce from the light trap research. Also, while in the field, I came up with a posteriori research problem. For instance, the few hours of rainfall in the course of the research helped me to study the effect of other different factors on the activities of the insects in the ecosystem.
The fieldwork began by proposing simple research questions and developing a hypothesis and evaluating using scientific literature. The fieldwork used different light traps to sort and identify the insects’ orders by employing simple diagnostic keys. Insects are important components of biodiversity, and therefore it is important to understand and appreciate the several roles of the insects in the ecosystem. Their interesting natural history well shows the benefits of the insects in the ecosystem. Hence facilitates the application of the insects as models of learning the ecosystem conservation.
The scientific information source for the research is Lamarre, G. P., Juin, Y., Lapied, E., Le Gall, P., & Nakamura, A. (2018). Using field-based entomological research to promote awareness about forest ecosystem conservation. Nature Conservation, 29, 39. The source is important since it addresses the main stages of the entomological research and provides general entomological knowledge and insects’ role in the ecosystem. This article is peer-reviewed as it was edited by an academic editor and was indicated to be a peer-reviewed open access journal in Nature Conservation.
Lamarre, G. P., Juin, Y., Lapied, E., Gall, P. L., & Nakamura, A. (2018). Using field-based entomological research to promote awareness about forest ecosystem conservation. Nature Conservation,29, 39-56. DOI:10.3897/natureconservation.29.26876
The attribute I have chosen to study is the health of perennial streams found in rangeland areas. I specifically noticed that there was disturbance to the stream bed and presence of invasive thistles in riparian zones at locations that the cattle had easy access to.
Observation:
I have observed locations at three points along one perennial stream (Figure 1). The locations include an area with strong evidence of disturbance by cattle, an area upstream from the disturbance, and an area downstream from the disturbance. The locations upstream and downstream were chosen by accessibility to the locations. I have also observed two other stream locations along a perpendicular gradient that are easily accessed by cattle. I have found that the slope of the banks and access to the stream to be the biggest indicator for possible deterioration of the health of the stream. The locations that have easy access, those along the perpendicular gradient, have evidence of disturbance causing changes in the stream bed (Figure4) and the presence of Cirsium vulgare (Figure 2), and Cirsium arvense (Figure 3). These observations areimplications of decreased health of the stream. The areas along the gradient of the single stream indicate that the impact of the cattle is limited to the areas they can directly access.
Pattern:
The pattern I have observed is that there appears to be deterioration of the streams, stream beds, and riparian zones in small perennial streams in rangelands at points of low slopping access. The stream beds are highly disturbed and are no longer gravelly in appearance. In these disturbed areas the stream bed has become muddy; further, invasive thistles are present in these disturbed areas. A possible process that has caused this deterioration is cattle accessing the stream. This is particularly evident in areas of easy access due to low sloping approach to the streams.
Hypothesis:
The ability for cattle to access perennial streams in rangeland with low sloping access points is contributing to deterioration of the stream health in areas directly accessed by the cattle.
Prediction:
The stream will show diminished overall health in areas that show high disturbance and presence of invasive thistles.
Variable example:
One response variable to study would be the presence of invasive thistle, specifically Cirsium vulgare, it could be categorical and measured in presence absence. The potential explanatory variable would be that cattle are contributing to the spread of the invasive thistles shown by the presence of the thistle in areas accessed by cattle.
