User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Collecting my field data went relatively well. Counting the smaller insects was sometimes difficult. I let the samples sit before I counted so there was less movement. Setting up the full length of the transect line without disturbing the pond too much was a bit difficult as well. The shoreline was quite even which helped. After I finished setting it up I waited for 30 mins before I started sampling. Counting the plants was straightforward. I was able to collect 12 samples.
When I first looked at my data I didn’t see any pattern. If I look at each transect individually it does not appear to support my prediction that samples with more plants will have more insects. What I did notice is that more individual insect species were found in the samples with more plants. I also noticed that transects 1-5 had more uniform plant cover than 6-12. Transects 1-5 had a higher number of insects comparatively, and also had more individual insect species. I also noticed that certain insects were more prominent in my samples with less plants. For example, transect #10 only had one plant, but the highest insect count at thirty-two. But the sample only had two insect species, one of which I mostly saw in the samples with few plants. I did not identify insect species as I felt it was outside of my scope and expertise, but the experiment could benefit from it as it would allow for comparison of what species was present where. I did not take into account that some insects may prefer open areas of the pond and be more numerous there, increasing count numbers in those areas. The experiment would also benefit from larger spaces between samples, as I originally tried, by dividing the pond into sections of plant density and then randomly sampling those areas.
