Backyard Biodiversity
What is the Backyard Biodiversity Pilot Study?
Invertebrate biodiversity studies are of great interest to scientists at the Australian Museum. Invertebrates make up to at least 99% of all living animal species and are a major component of biodiversity. Despite this overwhelming figure, very little is known about the diversity of invertebrates.
This study aims to apprentice students of Years 5 - 8 in scientific techniques and to introduce them to current scientific research.
Each school participating in this Study will conduct a 24-hour survey that compares the invertebrates (insects, spiders etc) that live in leaf-litter with those that live in lawn. A Survey Kit has been posted to each school that contains fieldwork instructions, identification sheets, sample vials, camera and background information. The survey will take each school about one week to conduct.
The information gathered by NSW students will be put together by the Museum and hopefully used as the basis of an ongoing project.
This study will help you to find out more about the diversity of invertebrates in your area. With your help we can shed some light on the following questions:
- How many different kinds of invertebrates are found in your area?
- What is the most common invertebrate found in your area?
- What different kinds of invertebrates are found in leaf litter compared to lawn area?
The experiment will involve putting pitfall traps in the ground in areas where leaf litter is found and in lawn in your schoolyard. These are left overnight and collected in the morning. Over the 24-hour period, the invertebrates in each sample area will fall into a pit-fall trap. Once collected, the invertebrates will be sorted, identified and counted.
Invertebrates are animals without a backbone, such as spiders and insects.
Leaf-litter is the layer of organic material on top of soil. It contains leaves, twigs, seeds, flowers, fruits, invertebrates, etc.
The lawn sample area should be an area of only lawn/grass cover.
