Invertebrate and Habitat Research Explanation and Conclusions:

Purpose:
To find out if there is a relationship between grass height/habitat and total number and type of invertebrates.

Two bug-collecting nets

Two glass jars for observation of invertebrates

Sample Vials for examining specimens with a scanning electron microscope

Global Positioning System (GPS)

We used the bug-collecting nets for twenty seconds at each site. The weather remained the same for the whole collection period (sunny, high 80's-low 90's F). We drew as many types of invertebrates as we could, and recorded the total number of invertebrates. We occasionally used the sample vials to collect mainly deceased invertebrates.

We found that as the grass height increased, the number of insects and spiders also went up. Flying insects such as dragonflies were hard to capture and sometimes went undocumented. Insects also sometimes escaped through top of net.

A certain yellow-green bug (probably in the order of true bugs) was especially abundant in the field near the parking lot, but not present in either the Parade Grounds or the woods near the trailhead. This is interesting because the parking lot had the most human activity. Possibly this insect eats cultivated plants or uses human contact to its advantage in other ways.

We caught dragonflies in and near the long grass near the parking lot, but not at the other sites. This could be partly because dragonflies feed on other insects. We found more insects in the long grass. Also, dragonflies breed in and live near water, and there is more water near the parking lot than at the other sites we worked at.