Leaf Litter Lab

Collaborators: Taylor, Megan, Devyn, and Tufan Abstract: In this lab we were trying to find the diversity of a leaf litter (dependent) sample collected from the back of Heritage high school off of the ground right near the smith creek (independent variable). We placed our sample in a milk jug flipped upside down and with the bottom cut off with a heat lamp placed over top of it. Underneath was a cup of alcohol therefore the bugs in this leaf litter would run away from the heat and the light (control). Seeking darkness, and less heat the species would fall into the cup of alcohol therefore we could examine them. We put our samples under a telescope and found a pseudoscorpian, spider, aphid and an ant. My hypothesis was the biodiversity of this area would be pretty high. Since we had such a small sample as a group there was only singular amounts of species so if we use Simpson's index formula the answer comes out to zero which is impossible you can't have a infinite diversity. However my hypothesis was also accurate because there was all of the species we found had an even amount. Problem: What is the biodiversity of a leaf litter sample found near Heritage High School? Hypothesis: The biodiversity of the leaf litter sample will be pretty high. Parts of the Experiment: Independent variable- Place we collected from Dependent variable- Biodiversity of our sample Controlled variable- Heat and light Experimental group- Sample no controlled group Materials: Compound Microscope Berless Funnel Leaf Litter Alcohol Source of Light

Method:
1. Collect a sample of leaf litter. Be sure to collect the entire layer down to the soil. 2. Examine the sample and classify what you see the layer is composed of. 3. Place your sample into the Berlese Funnel under the light source. Place a small beaker of alcohol under the funnel. The hope is that small invertebrates will travel away from the light and fall into your alcohol. 4. The next day, collect your beaker and examine the organisms you have collected under the microscopes. You will need to calculate the number of each species you have, and identify them. Each person may work on a portion of the sample and put your numbers together. Use the Identification pages to name each species. 5. Use the information to calculate the diversity indices for your sample. Data:

Invertebrate Identification Page

Termite Proturan Thrips

Japygid

Millipede

Roach

Psocid

Isopod

Ant

Springtail

Centipede

Aphid

Snail

Ant

True Bug

Pauropod

Pseudoscorpion

Harvestman

Spider

Beetle Mite

Predaceous Mite

Pre-Lab:

Questions-

Species 1 2 3 4 5

Sample 1 10 10 10 10 10

Sample 2 20 20 10 10 2

Sample 3 100 1 1 1 1

1. Why would we want to rate the amount of biodiversity in a location? 2. Examine the charts below and calculate the diversity indices for the three samples. 3. Use the results from the previous question to describe the biodiversity of each sample.

Analysis and Conclusions specific to the lab: Questions1. What are two reasons the organisms move away from the light down the funnel? What does this indicate about the organisms? 2. Summarize whether you think the biodiversity of this litter is high or low density. If low, try to give some reasons why this might be. 3. Why would an environmental scientist need to make more than one measurement if he was calculating the biodiversity? How would you take samples of a large forest? Answers1. The organisms we found moved away from the light to escape the heat and to find moisture. This indicates these organisms are invertebrates 2. I think the biodiversity of this litter is low because we didn't even collect enough data to plug it into the formula. This result could be because our sample was not collected correctly or because this is such a small sample and we only did one so it's hard to tell from that.

3. An environmentalist would want to take more than one measurement to calculate biodiversity because you're definitely not going to get all of the species in one sample and also not all areas are the same in a large forest so he would probably do a lot of small samples in a large forest and average them. Conclusion: My hypothesis of we will have high biodiversity in our sample was accurate because all of the sample of organisms were even however we didn't collect enough data to be sure of that. This lab is to show us how much diversity is around us and we don't even know it. This theme is also brought up in the article Chernobyl Taking a Toll on Invertebrates Too This entire course is based on biodiversity and that's what this lab is on. More specifically in unit three where we learn about species diversity and species richness. There are many possibilities for error such as bad sample collection, part of the sample falling out of the bag, bugs hiding underneath leaves not making their way down to the alcohol cup. Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/science/earth/24obnuke.html