SEE-U 2000: Biosphere 2 - Lecture

## Lecture Archive

## Species Diversity of Beneficial and Pest Insects in Home Gardens
Presenters: Cameron, Rachael, Barney, Puja, Nathaniel James Johnson, Crystal, Christie, John, and James

### Species Diversity of Beneficial and Pest Insects in Home Gardens

Cameron, Rachael, Barney, Puja, Nathaniel James Johnson, Crystal, Christie, John, and James
Columbia University

## Morro do Diabo, Brazil - 2 Aug 00

### Introduction

- What is the influence of plant biodiversity in home gardens on insect populations?
- Agroforestry is increasingly utilized in Pontal de Paranapanema as a possible method of preserving biodiversity.
  - This exercise explores the relationship between plant diversity and insect diversity in home gardens.

### Methodology

- Three sites of varying plant diversity were studied.
  - Two home gardens and one forest area
- Two pan traps were placed at each site on Sunday July 30 and collected on Wednesday August 2.
- Species were separated to morphospecies

### Sites

Mango - older site with lower plant abundances | Miro - younger site with high plant abundances

Not Pictured: Madeira - an older arboretum site near Morro hospedaria

### Results - Analyses

- All statistical analyses were non-significant (chi-square tests)
- Diversity indices could not be calculated because of low within-species abundances

### Results

- The graphs constructed were
  - species/ sample
  - ind./sample
  - species/site
  - ind/site
  - plant species/site

### Plant species/site

### Insect Abundance / Sample

### Insect Richness / Sample

### Overall Insect Abundance

### Overall Insect Richness

### Conclusions

- Species diversity of homopterans and parasitoids was variable between sites.
- Only one site had a repeated species.
- Site with highest plant species diversity had the highest parasitoid diversity.
- This site also had the second highest number of homopteran species.
- This study suggests a positive relationship between high plant diversity and beneficial insects (parasitoids).
- For more conclusive results this research should be replicated.