We experimented with the question “ Does the insect noise vary amongst different treatments on the prairie?”. The prairie we got our information from was the FreeState Prairie which is located behind the football field. It is used by Free State High School students and KU for research purposes. It is a tallgrass prairie. A tallgrass prairie is defined by its tall grasses such as Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Little bluestem. Tallgrass prairies have a wetter climate than other prairies and very fertile soil.
We chose our question stated above because we were curious about the amount of insects and how they were affected by the treatments. We decided to see how many insect species were in each plot and how they varied. After running a few tests, we realized how difficult it would be to count all the species. We eventually decided to change our question to what is seen above.
We were interested in the prairie insects because we noticed the prairie was very noisy. We thought that based on the different plot treatments, the insect species would vary between the plots, therefore some plots would be louder than others. We decided to measure the insect noises in decibels. A decibel is a unit used to measure the intensity of a sound.
Since we didn't study any specific species it is hard to know how the insects interact with the prairie. But, like most insects they would be primary consumers.
What We Noticed
The prairie was mostly quiet except for the presence of people and wind. Although there was a lot of background noise you could still hear the insect noise.
Plot 3 was seeded with grass only.
Plot 1 was seeded with grasses and forbes.
Plot 2 was seeded with grasses and 2x of forbes.
We used the app DecibelX to track the noise in all 18 plots. We had our designated person stand in the middle of each plot and record sound for 10 seconds. Overall, we gathered two sets of data for each plot. We did this over a period of 3 days, October 4th, 5th, and 7th. We usually conducted the research from around 9:00 am to 11:00a m. With all the data we collected, we then averaged the numbers and plugged them into our graph.
What We Found
In conclusion, the insect sound does vary based on the different plot treatments. When we measured the sound in the grass only plots the average noise level was about 45.68 dB. In the grass and forbes plot it was about the same with the numbers averaging at 45.84 dB. Now, in the grass and 2x forbes plot the noise was higher with an average noise level at 47.74 dB. It most likely varies because of the availability of plants and flowers.
Some things we noticed while out in the prairie is that the insect noise was hard to hear over the wind. So we all wonder if our data could be affected by the presence of other sounds. The only way to stop this error is to find the quietest day to record our sound. Secondly, this question also brings up the question of how prairies support the insect population. Or you could also explore the question of whether or not different insect species thrive in different prairie treatments.
Sources:
https://freestateprairie.wixsite.com/mysite/ecologyhttps://www.nps.gov/tapr/learn/nature/a-complex-prairie-ecosystem.htmhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fprairieecologist.com%2F2013%2F04%2F22%2Ftuning-into-fire-frequency%2F&psig=AOvVaw3lv63WaWjSYlQ7f49NcvUD&ust=1634318150302000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJiP5eSzyvMCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAVOur team
Ari: Was the visual director and designed the visual elements of the website.
Zoe: Was one of the two editors and helped construct the paragraphs and other text elements of the website.
Dru: Was the documenter and cataloged the reserach that we did in the prarie.
Erin: Was the other editor and helped construct the paragraphs and other text elements of the website.