If there were double the Forb seeds, would there be double the insects?

Background info

What is a prairie? Prairies are ecosystems and enormous stretches of flat grassland with moderate temperatures, moderate rainfall, and few trees.(National Geographic, 2022) Free State Prairie is a tallgrass prairie restoration experiment developed through a collaboration between Lawrence Free State High School and the University of Kansas.(Lawrence Free State High School, n.d.) The Free State prairie was divided into 18 plots, with six replicates of each of three treatments: Grass-only, Grass and Forbs, Grass and 2xForbs. The prairie was and is used for research by students that gives them an opportunity to experience a more complex, native ecosystem.

In our biology class, we were assigned to ask objective questions, to choose one to base an experiment on. As a group we thought about one of the direct relationships in ecosystems, herbivory, in the Prairie. We thought about how the primary producers in the prairie are grasess which are eaten by the consumers -1st heterotrophs- such as: deer, birds, reptiles, insects… This process actually makes up a trophic pyramid in the prairie. As a group we focused on “insects” and asked “Do the amount of forbs have an affect on the amount of insects?”.

To figure out an answer to our questions we needed to plan our experiment. To do so, we first stated the parts of an experiment which are independent variable(the variable that is changed and is assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable), dependent variable(the variable that depends on the independent variable), control group (the variable that is compared to the outcome to see if the independent variable has an effect) and constant variables (the variables that are the same through the experiment). In this case our independent variable was the treatments of the plots, our dependent variable was the amount of insects in each plot, our control groups were the only grass plots, and our constant variables were; the temperature, the amount of water the plots are given, the method used to collect the data, etc.

We agreed on using the sweep net to catch bugs which would allow us to catch insects in plots that have different treatments, to see if the treatments affect the amount of insects. We decided to go around the plots with the sweep net swinging the net back and forth to gather the insects. We planned to go around the plots 1, 7, 13, 18, 12 and 6 the first day of our experiment and on the second day, to go around the plots 16, 10 and 4 and take pictures of the prairie.

Map of prairie and plots we used

Our methods

Wednesday was our first day on the prairie, we went to plots 1, 7, 13 with our sweep nets and then went around the plots and started swinging the sweep nets back and forth to gather bugs, while we were doing those three plots we did not get any bugs but then, later on when we went to plots 18, 12, 6 we got 9 bugs from plot 6, 3 bugs from plot 12 and 0 from plot 18. On the second day we went to plots 16, 10, 4 and we caught 7 bugs from plot 16, 2 bugs from plot 10, and 5 bugs from plot 4. We also went to plots 18 ,12, and 6 on the second day. Plot 18 had 0 bugs, plot 12 had 3, and plot 6 had 2. There were some bees in plot 12 also. This is a conclusion of what we did on the 2 days.

summary of prairie grade

Wednesday was our first day on the prairie, we went to plots 1, 7, 13 with our sweep nets and then went around the plots and started swinging the sweep nets back and forth to gather bugs, while we were doing those three plots we did not get any bugs but then, later on when we went to plots 18, 12, 6 we got 9 bugs from plot 6, 3 bugs from plot 12 and 0 from plot 18. On the second day we went to plots 16, 10, 4 and we caught 7 bugs from plot 16, 2 bugs from plot 10, and 5 bugs from plot 4. We also went to plots 18 ,12, and 6 on the second day. Plot 18 had 0 bugs, plot 12 had 3, and plot 6 had 2. There were some bees in plot 12 also. This is a conclusion of what we did on the 2 days.

HOW WE GATHERD DATA

Step 1- get suited up in orange jumpsuits and boots

Step 2 - going to the prairie

Step 3 - go to the plots that we planned for each day

Step 4 - use the sweep nets to gather bugs

Step 5 - count how many bugs we got from each plot and add it up

Step 6- discuss what we did and what we can do better next time

Step 7- go back to the classroom and pack up our data

SUMMARY

From the data we collected we have come to the conclusion that the seeded only grass had the most bugs, we used technique to wear we would move the sweep net back and forth, the grasses + forbe seeds didnt have that many we averaged 5 bugs from all the plots we did , however grasses + 2x forbe seeds we only averged 4 from all of the 3 plots we went to, so to answer our question If there were double the Forb seeds, would there be double the insects? we can say no just because there is double the forbe seeds that doesnt mean there is double the insects.

BIBLOGRAPHY

FSHS Prairie. (2022, October 11). Free State Prairie Project. FSHS Prairie. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/usd497.org/fshs-prairie/home

Lawrence Free State High School. (n.d.). About Free State Prairie. Free State Prairie. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://freestateprairie.wixsite.com/mysite/about

National Geographic. (2022, May 20). Prairie. National Geographic. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/prairie