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Ecology - Lab Manual

1) Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment, including how organisms interact with each other through competition, cooperation, and other factors. 2) In this lab, students will conduct a terrestrial arthropod survey to sample and identify arthropod specimens from two different habitats on campus using nets and light traps. 3) Students will calculate the Shannon biodiversity index to compare the diversity of species found in each habitat.

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ittoiram setag
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1K views2 pages

Ecology - Lab Manual

1) Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment, including how organisms interact with each other through competition, cooperation, and other factors. 2) In this lab, students will conduct a terrestrial arthropod survey to sample and identify arthropod specimens from two different habitats on campus using nets and light traps. 3) Students will calculate the Shannon biodiversity index to compare the diversity of species found in each habitat.

Uploaded by

ittoiram setag
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Ecology

Drawing Connections

What is ecology?
Ecology is the study of the interactions among organisms and the interactions between
organisms and the environment. Ecologists explore the many factors that shape the abundance,
distribution, and diversity of organisms on Earth. They also study how organisms interact with
each other and the chemical and physical environment within defined biological communities,
by tracking how they compete, cooperate, and so on. Ecologists can also study biological and
physical/chemical processes such as photosynthesis and other forms of energy transformation, as
well as larger-scale processes such as nutrient cycling and succession. In short, ecology is a
multidisciplinary field that strives to understand how communities of organisms interact with
each other and the non-living components of their environment to form (and transform) the
many types of ecosystems on Earth.

In this lab we will conduct a terrestrial arthropod survey in two different habitats on
campus. Daytime labs will be using “butterfly” nets and jars to collect specimens. Night time labs
will be using a light trap –a light bulb, and a large white reflector to attract bugs. Each lab section
will sample two different habitats. Then the specimens will be identified to taxonomic Class, and
species if possible. Next we will calculate the diversity index for each habitat, to compare the
number of species found in each.

Learning outcomes
1. Conduct basic field techniques.
2. Collect and record ecological data.
3. Calculate the Shannon Biodiversity index.

Materials needed
Kestrel weather meter Sheet, PVC pipe, & rope (nighttime)
Timer Specimen jars
“Butterfly” nets (daytime) Arthropod ID field guides
Work light (nighttime) Computer with Excel

Procedure
1. Your lab instructor will provide a brief introduction on how to use the collection gear.
2. Record the metadata for the sampling location.
3. Sample each habitat for 20 minutes.
4. Identify specimens: use the available field guides to identify the class of each specimen
collected. If possible, you may identify it down to species. On your datasheet, group similar
specimens together and enumerate them. If you can’t identify the species but two organisms
of the same class are clearly different you may identify them as species 1, species 2, etc…
E.g. Lepidoptera, species 1.
5. Calculate diversity index

BIOL 1510 | Ecology– Drawing Connections 1


Metadata
Simply put metadata is data about data. Metadata gives you background information
about a data point. For example when you take a picture with your cellphone, the image you
create is the primary data you are collecting. But other helpful information may be added to the
picture such as GPS location (24.55° N, 81.78° W), resolution of the image (600x800px), or
keywords that help describe what is going on (#Besties). Background information about the
environmental conditions around your sampling site, helps put your primary data in context.
Factors such as temperature, salinity, surrounding vegetation may all affect the data you collect.
What factors do you think may affect terrestrial arthropods on campus?

Biodiversity index
In the general sense Biodiversity is the variety of organisms in given habitat, ecosystem,
or the world over all. But how do you measure it? One of the most basic measures for
biodiversity is species richness, which is simply the number of species present in a given area.
There are several indices used to measure biodiversity two of the most popular are the Shannon
index and the Simpson index. For this activity we are going to use the Shannon index. To
calculate the Shannon index you first count the number of individuals of each species in your
sample. Then determine the what percent of the total population, each species is (pi= # of
individuals of one species/total # of individuals in the population).

𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = − - 𝑝/ ln 𝑝/
/34

Or in words:

9:;55<5
# 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 # 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
/5678 = − - ∙ ln
# 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐿𝐿 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑝. # 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝐿𝐿 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑝

Calculate pi for each species identified. (This is best done in Excel. Hint: the sum of pi for your
population should =1.)

Which habitat has higher diversity? Why do you think that is?

BIOL 1510 | Ecology– Drawing Connections 2

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