Biodiversity Urban-Suburban-Rural In Baltimore City/County

Biodiversity  More than 25 recognized definitions  Convention on Biological Diversity –the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Biodiversity  Multiple scales of biodiversity –Genetic –Species –Ecosystem  Measure should be defined by the application of the data

Benefits of Biodiversity  Soil, air, water quality  Climate stability  Pest control  Detoxification and decomposition of waste  Crop production (pollinators)  Buffer against natural disasters  Food security  Medicine  Aesthetic value  Economic value

Question  How does biodiversity differ between managed and unmanaged areas in urban, suburban and rural school yards?

Approach  5m transects –3 samplings per type at each site –3 samples x 2 types x 3 sites = 18 total  Sample insects by sweeping parallel to transect line  Sample herbaceous vegetation by collecting samples along transect line  Differentiate and count Organizational Taxonomic Units (OTUs)

Sites  Urban: Digital Harbor High School  Suburban: Owings Mills High School  Rural: Hereford High School

Assumptions  Similar management regimens between the sites  Each site is representative of its type –Urban, rural, suburban

Urban Suburban Rural

Limitations  Digital Harbor : finding enough edge –Unmanaged areas not completely unmanaged  High number of birds eating our sample insects(in the field)  Time entailed in classifying the species(we did the insects within our group)  Each group tried to determine what we thought of as edge.  Weather conditions

Hypothesis I  Managed areas will have lower biodiversity than unmanaged areas –If urban,suburban and rural areas are managed, then we expect the areas to be more similar to each other with respect to the herbaceous plant and insect species, so we will see more common species among managed fields than the unmanaged edge areas from similar sites

urban suburban rural 13 Unmanaged urban suburban rural Managed Comparison of Biodiversity in Managed and Unmanaged Sites Along Urban-Rural Gradient

Managed vs Unmanaged Areas  Unmanaged areas contain more OTUs than managed areas –Unmanaged: 32 OTUs –Managed:20 OTUs  Suburban areas have the greatest overlap of species between managed and unmanaged areas (36.3%), followed by urban areas (19.2%), with the least overlap in rural areas (4.8%).

Hypothesis II  Biodiversity will occur along a gradient, with rural areas having greatest biodiversity. –If biodiversity occurs across a continuous urban-rural gradient with the greatest biodiversity in rural areas, then we expect the rural school yard to contain the greatest number of OTUs and the urban school yard to contain the lowest number of OTUs.

urban suburban rural

Urban-Rural Gradient  The greatest number of OTUs was found at the urban site, followed by the rural site, with the least number of OTUs found at the suburban site  The greatest overlap in species was found between the urban and rural sites

Current literature  Moritz von der Lippe and Ingo Kowarik (2007) Institute of Ecology, Technical University of Berlin, Rothenburgstr.12, D Berlin, Germany Do cities export biodiversity? Traffic as dispersal vector across urban–rural gradients

Future Investigations  Is this study representative? –ie, test additional sites  Are the similarities different? –Alternative definitions of biodiversity, to include biomass studies (dominant populations)  What factors are influencing the pattern (ie, lack of “gradient”)? –Investigate type of area residences, traffic patterns, watersheds, development, weather patterns,etc

\ Making lab work in classroom  We would have a dichotomous key for the species of plants and have them label species as species 1,2,3 and then for an extension for some students have them work to find out what is the species name.

Classroom applications  This would be an intense lab to do with students in a 45 minute class period but it could be completed in 3 days in a 90 minute class.  This could be started midweek and completed the next week for students on a 45 minute schedule. Leading the students and having them design the lab will have them buying into the work better than presenting the lab to them.

Making lab work in classroom  Pre-lab having the students understand what they will be doing have each student practice the correct techniques for the net sampling method  Have student understand collection of plant species.

Making lab work in classroom  On lab day have students collect materials and go outside and collect the samples  Bring samples inside and freeze insects  Separate and press plant samples for identification the next day.

Making the lab work in the classroom  Day 3 identify the plants in each group and enter data in excel  If time allows show pictures of the kinds of insects

Making lab work in classroom  Have students look at samples of insects under dissecting microscopes  Have them determine the differences between flying insects, beetles, sucking insects, grasshoppers, crickets, ants and spiders. Have them tell why spiders are not classified as insects.

Making lab work in classroom  Data analysis graphing data using excel  Comparison of number of species of plants and number of species of animals for edge and field  Explanation of what they would expect with the number of species of herbivores and number of primary producers.