The Measurement Of Biodiversity In Different Areas On Mississippi State’s Campus

Introduction

Biodiversity is important for a multitude of reasons; the larger reasons including ecosystem health and animal survivorship rates. Biodiversity is known as the number and abundance of species living in a community or particular habitat. Different animals’ environment may change over time due to natural disasters, anthropogenic effects or climate change. This change in environment leads to different animal distributions that will be determined by the animals’ needs and their ability to adapt. Biodiversity is used to understand where these animals moved and where they might move to in the future. Biodiversity can also indicate the health of an ecosystem. Studies have shown that, as the levels of biodiversity decreases, there is a negative effect on the ecosystem. Also, when an ecosystem is higher in diversity, there is a positive effect on the ability of the animals to survive changes to the environment (Godbold, et al., 2009).

Our experiment is a study of the measurement of biodiversity in different areas on Mississippi State’s campus. The three areas in the study include, a wooded area, a pond area and a manicured lawn area. This experiment focuses on the effects of anthropogenic disturbances in the different areas of study. Studies show that anthropogenic disturbances of ecosystems have been consistently rising over time due to the steady increase in population of the world. Anthropogenic disturbances may include logging, fires and pollution as well as many others. Changes in the environment due to anthropogenic disturbances are increasing the number and severity of natural disasters such as hurricanes or floods. These anthropogenic disturbances have damaging effects on biodiversity (Wise, 2019). Therefore, the hypothesis for the experiment is that the pond area and the wooded area will have greater biodiversity than the manicured lawn, and the null hypothesis for this experiment is that all three of the areas will have the same amount of biodiversity.

Methods

For each location, the wooded area, the pond area, and the manicured lawn, the same materials and steps were followed in order to keep the data consistent. The wooded area is behind the Baptist Student Union and can be distinguished from the other locations by the vast amount of trees. The pond is located behind a large parking lot on Bailey Howell Drive and has barely any trees directly surrounding the water. The manicured lawn is located to the right of the Sanderson Center at the intersection of Bailey Howell Drive and George Perry Street. The lawn is characterized by having few trees and Bermuda grass. The materials included: binoculars, four construction flags, a sweep net and data sheets. At each location, the four construction flags were used to create a 5m x 5m sampling plot. Within this sampling plot, for ten minutes each time, the area was carefully examined. Any vertebrates or invertebrates were counted and data recorded. If there was any vegetation that could have impeded the sampling plot, it was moved out of the way with the sweep net, which also collected organisms. For another ten minutes, using the binoculars, we viewed the area around the sampling plot. A list of vertebrate and invertebrate species was compiled and will be used to calculate the biodiversity between sites.

In order to analyze the data for each site, three equations will need to be used. Species richness, or relative abundance, is the proportion of each species present and is shown mathematically with the equation, Pi= ni/N. Where ni represents the number of individuals of species “i,” and N is the total number of individuals of all species. The Shannon Index measures biodiversity and is represented mathematically with the equation, H’ = -i=1Spiln(pi) , where pi is the relative abundance. Lastly, species evenness, which is how equal in abundance species are, is seen by the fraction, H’/ln(S), where H’ is the Shannon Index and S represents the total number of species. In order to maintain biodiversity, we need to be able to comprehend the variability between landscapes and species richness within those spatial scales (Katayama et al., 2014).

Expected Results

We expect biodiversity to be greater in the wooded area and pond area than in the manicured lawn area. Our expectations stem from research showing biodiversity is less in high traffic areas (Kim, et. al 2006). This effect of traffic on biodiversity can be a result of various different factors. The noise of traffic can be frightening for species and drive them away. Another factor is traffic can be deadly for species by literal roadkill (Summers et. al, 2011). The manicured lawn area is located between two main roads on campus that have continuous traffic. Traffic consists of vehicles driving back and forth on the roads, but traffic also consists of humans and other human activities. The lawn is manicured on a regular basis. This means landscaping equipment and people to operate the equipment are walking this area often. Such action could drive away inhabitants and decrease biodiversity. This is the reason we expect our results to show a lesser biodiversity in the manicured lawn area than in the other two areas. Biodiversity should be greater in the wooded area and in the pond area due to a larger distance from traffic and better resources in the form of shade and water.

This experiment is important because it can help educate people on the effect they have, without even really knowing it, on biodiversity. It can also be used to help find ways to increase biodiversity in these higher trafficked areas. Biodiversity is so important, and we want to be able to educate and hopefully aid in conserving it.

Work Cited

1. Godbold J. A., & Solan M. (2009). Relative importance of biodiversity and the abiotic environment in mediating an ecosystem process. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 396, 273.
2. Katayama, N., Amano, T., Naoe, S., Yamakita, T., Komatsu, I., Takagawa, S., … Miyashita, T. (n.d.). Landscape Heterogeneity-Biodiversity Relationship: Effect of Range Size. PLOS ONE, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093359
3. Kim, J., Williams, N., & Kremen, C. (2006). Effects of Cultivation and Proximity to Natural Habitat on Ground-nesting Native Bees in California Sunflower Fields. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 79(4), 309–320. doi: 10.2317/0507.11.1
4. Summers, P. D., Cunnington, G. M., & Fahrig, L. (2011). Are the negative effects of roads on breeding birds caused by traffic noise? Journal of Applied Ecology, 48(6), 1527–1534. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02041.x
5. Wise, M. J. (2017). A Field Investigation into the Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbances on Biodiversity and Alien Invasions of Plant Communities. Bioscene: Journal of College Biology Teaching, 43(2), 4–14.