Gokarna Forest Case Study
A case study on the abundance and diversity of insects and other invertebrates on native and introduced trees in Gokarna forest (Ranikunj)
Introduction:
Forests are considered extremely important habitat as they support a large number of biological diversity, ecological function (Hooper et al., 2005) and also provides various ecosystem services. They support life system of many species out of which 32% species population is occupied by the invertebrates alone (USDA, 2011). Invertebrates are the most versatile type of animal which can be found in almost all kinds of ecosystem and an astounding 90% of total animal species in the earth is occupied by them in terms of numbers (Kellert, 1993). The credit of their versatility can be given to the …show more content…
The students were divided into five groups with two members so that the sampling and data collection of the invertebrates in the site can be easier and effective. The groups were provided a piece of wood and a tray each. The accessible branches of trees were tapped vigorously and a tray was held below the branch to capture the fallen insects. The bottles were labelled with name of trees with the help of class teacher. Without losing any specimen the contents collected in the tray were placed in respective bottles containing alcohol so as to make them soft making it easier for handling and examination. The specimens were further studied in the lab using microscope and their features were observed and then identified and grouped into different orders with the help of identification keys provided. Finally the collected data was entered into excel sheet and graphs were obtained through it representing the abundance and diversity of invertebrates on native and introduced …show more content…
The number of invertebrates on the introduced tree species was found higher with the mean abundance of 19.57 than in the native species. Commonly, recently introduced tree species consists less invertebrates (Southwood, 1961) but the opposite is seen in this case. This might be because of successful invasion of the introduced tree species (Ordonez et al., 2010). This could also be because they shifted their habitat to introduced tree species due to it being free from original predators of the invertebrates (Keane and Crawly,
Introduction:
Forests are considered extremely important habitat as they support a large number of biological diversity, ecological function (Hooper et al., 2005) and also provides various ecosystem services. They support life system of many species out of which 32% species population is occupied by the invertebrates alone (USDA, 2011). Invertebrates are the most versatile type of animal which can be found in almost all kinds of ecosystem and an astounding 90% of total animal species in the earth is occupied by them in terms of numbers (Kellert, 1993). The credit of their versatility can be given to the …show more content…
The students were divided into five groups with two members so that the sampling and data collection of the invertebrates in the site can be easier and effective. The groups were provided a piece of wood and a tray each. The accessible branches of trees were tapped vigorously and a tray was held below the branch to capture the fallen insects. The bottles were labelled with name of trees with the help of class teacher. Without losing any specimen the contents collected in the tray were placed in respective bottles containing alcohol so as to make them soft making it easier for handling and examination. The specimens were further studied in the lab using microscope and their features were observed and then identified and grouped into different orders with the help of identification keys provided. Finally the collected data was entered into excel sheet and graphs were obtained through it representing the abundance and diversity of invertebrates on native and introduced …show more content…
The number of invertebrates on the introduced tree species was found higher with the mean abundance of 19.57 than in the native species. Commonly, recently introduced tree species consists less invertebrates (Southwood, 1961) but the opposite is seen in this case. This might be because of successful invasion of the introduced tree species (Ordonez et al., 2010). This could also be because they shifted their habitat to introduced tree species due to it being free from original predators of the invertebrates (Keane and Crawly,