Microarthropod Lab

Biology I

Name________________________

1. State your hypothesis

2. State your reasons for making this prediction.

Data Collection and Analysis:

Work in groups to quantify the number of animals and the number of types of animals in your sample. Double check each other by having more than one person count the sample. Record your data here and on the board.

3. Calculate the mean (average) number of animals in each habitat type. (sum of the five samples/5)

Under trees___________Under grass___________Bareground____________

4. Find the mean species richness (the average number of types of animals in a habitat type).

Under trees___________Under grass___________Bareground____________

5. Make bar graphs of  abundance (from #3) and species richness (from #5). Be sure to appropriately label your axes.

Conclusions:

6. Was your hypothesis supported or refuted? Discuss your reasoning.

7.  What would you change if you had this experiment to do over to improve the quality of your results? What other research questions has this experiment raised?