For this week’s lab, we analyzed ant biodiversity data from urban habitats. Ants were sampled around the UTC campus using six different food baits: cookies, sugar, salt, amino acids, oil, and water. Temperature and the amount of pavement, known as impervious surface, were used as a measure of urbanization to test the effect of urban environments on ant food preferences. The goal of the data collection and analysis for this project is to show the effects that urbanization has on ant populations. Many ant population have become well adapted to urban environments, but other populations prefer natural habitats such as forests and grasslands. The hypothesis we analyzed in this study is that ants prefer to be in natural environments such as grass or soil rather than on concrete in urban environments. The data analyzed is from the years 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
2016
We conducted a one-way ANOVA test on the data from 2016. The null hypothesis was accepted because the p-value was 0.1131 which is well below the 0.05 that is needed to reject the null hypothesis. The p-value is significant, which supports the hypothesis.
2017
We conducted a one-way ANOVA test on the data from 2017. The null hypothesis was rejected because the p-value was 0.0103 which is well below the 0.05 that is needed to reject the null hypothesis. The p-value is significant, which supports the hypothesis.
2018
Using the data gathered from experimentation, we conducted a one-way ANOVA test on the 2018 data. The null hypothesis was rejected for 2018’s hypothesis because the p-value was 0.06876 which is well below the 0.05 that is needed to reject the null hypothesis. The p-value is significant, which supports the hypothesis.
2019
We conducted a one-way ANOVA test on the 2019 data using the information gathered through experimentation. The null hypothesis was rejected for 2019’s hypothesis because the p-value was 0.09419. This value is below the 0.05 that is needed to reject the null hypothesis, so the p-value is significant—supporting the hypothesis.
Analysis of Bugs in Manhattan Compete with Rats for Food Refuse
What factors might explain the similarities and differences between your data analysis and those from the NY study?
One of the similarities of the data and the New York study is the type of food the ants preferred to eat. The food used in the New York study were Ruffles potato chips, Nabisco Nilla Wafers and Oscar Mayer Extra Lean Franks. The food sources for the class data were cookies, salt, sugar, amino acids, oil, and water. In the New York study, the ants potato chips and cookies. In the data collected by the class, cookie, oil, sugar, and salt were the top preferences for Chattanooga ants. This may be due to similar species being tested. Generally, the ants may be attracted to sweets because of the energy that comes from sugars.
Recent studies have suggested that urban areas are good for biodiversity. Under what circumstances might cities help increase biodiversity?
Urbanization is highly associated with the degradation of environments, but many urban areas are considered home for many different animal species—showing great biodiversity. Compact development is a type of development in urban areas that uses land efficiently, in regards to resources, during a period of rapid urbanization. In an article by Sushinsky et al., compact development substantially slows down reductions in species due to urbanization. The use of compact development usually allows for the protection of green spaces and the minimization of ecological disruption. Examples of compact development include developments on underused or vacant properties in urbanized areas and setting urban housing and commercial standards.
In addition to ants, what type of organism do you think would be well adapted to cities? Vulnerable?
One example of animals that have become well adapted to cities are bats. In places like Austin, Texas and Washington, D.C, bats have become a tourist attraction. On summer nights, people gather to watch hundreds of bats emerge from their homes. This is great for cities because bats act as pollinators and insect control for urban areas. Racoons are another animal that has been well adapted to living in cities, mainly because of their willingness to eat things humans throw out. Coyotes are another animal that have adapted to living in urban environments. These animals are less wary than wolves, so they are less afraid to follow small prey animals into urban environments. An example of an animal that would be vulnerable in cities are deer. An increase of humans and a decrease in green spaces could affect the livelihood of deer populations.
How might humans help improve the function of cities as an ecosystem?
Urban ecosystems are areas where people and nature coexist. Humans can help improve cities as an ecosystem by conserving and restoring nature and restoring remnant patches of urban nature. Doing this allows for a city to create green spaces that allow for the revival of animal populations and the overall improvement of the urban ecosystems. Taking advantage of the full ecological functioning of a city allows for an overall more healthy, sustainable ecosystem.
Analysis of Abstracts from Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Plant Community Composition and Biodiversity Patterns in Urban Parks of Portland, Oregon
Briefly summarize the study question and findings. What did you find interesting about the study?
The study, Plant Community Composition and Biodiversity Patterns in Urban Parks of Portland, Oregon focused on examining the biodiversity of different native/non-native/invasive species in urban parks by utilizing different data collection methods. The study yielded rather interesting findings, which detailed that more native species resided in the parks that were more natural-passive than the multi-use parks & recreational parks. This was in large due to species being more preserved in these types of parks, whereas the species richness in recreational parks was lower respectively. Additionally, the species richness within the parks observed was highest in natural-passive use parks, followed by multi-use parks, and trailed by recreational parks. What I found most interesting about this study is that it enriched my knowledge on the abundance of species in differing parks as a whole. Prior to reading, I assumed mostly all parks were rich in all types of species groups without considering how environmental factors play a huge role in their abundance.
As a science communicator, what key takeaways should the general public be aware of based on your readings?
As a science communicator, some key takeaways from this reading is that it is important to work towards preserving all types of plant species within parks and truly understanding their ecological needs, and importance. In addition to the previous statement, it is essential as humans to limit our anthropogenic changes and alterations to parks and natural areas as a whole because without this effort, plant biodiversity and richness would cease to exist in many of these areas.
What questions would you ask the authors about their study?
- A question I would ask the author about this study is did they take anthropogenic effects into consideration when measuring aspects such as species richness in all three different types of parks listed (natural-passive parks, multi-use parks, recreational parks).
- Another question I would ask the author of this study is what are ways we can actively preserve the biodiversity of not only plant species within these types of parks, but also insect species such as ants, bees, and other important environmental boosters
Tree Cover Mediates the Effect of Artificial Light on Urban Bats
Briefly summarize the study question and findings. What did you find interesting about the study?
In the study, Tree Cover Mediates the Effect of Artificial Light on Urban Bats, the effects of tree coverings were investigated to determine the direct impact of street lights with and without uv lights, on bats in the area and their resulting behavior on activities such as foraging. Researchers in the study found that nocturnal bats proved to be impacted by the presence of street lamps with and without uv lights respectively, with the tree coverings lessening the effects on vegetation. Additionally, the different bat species recorded tended to act on species-specific responses to the various degrees of light pollution emitted from the street lamps. What I found most interesting about this particular study was that some bat species tend to utilize light emissions as a way to prey on nearby insects that naturally flock street lamps, thus making my prior knowledge of bats a bit more precise and clear.
As a science communicator, what key takeaways should the general public be aware of based on your readings?
Based on my readings, it is essential for the general public to be aware of the crippling effects light pollution has on nocturnal animals, and other species. Increased light exposure tends to tamper with many species’ natural processes and behavior, which ultimately could lead to an impact on species who depend on certain light cycles for hunting. If we can make an effort to cut down on artificial light, a vast majority of our world could see a positive impact on climate change and species abundance rates.
What questions would you ask the authors about their study?
- One question I would ask the authors in this study is if light pollution is decreased in the areas where bat species look for vegetation, would that also decrease the abundance of insect populations that usually are present?
- Another question I would ask the authors is are bats prone to extinction in the near future if light pollution continues to increase threaten the various species groups?
APA Cited Reference: Sushinsky, J. R., Rhodes, J. R., Possingham, H. P., Gill, T. K., & Fuller, R. A. (2012). How should we grow cities to minimize their biodiversity impacts? Global Change Biology, 19(2), 401–410. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12055
The introduction was written by Nia Alston. The data analysis for 2016 and 2017 was completed by Jayla Watkins. The data analysis for 2018 and 2019 was completed by Alston. The Analysis of Bugs in Manhattan Compete with Rats for Food Refuse was completed by Alston. The Analysis of Abstracts from Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution was completed by Jayla Watkins.
The Eco 411 