Biodiversity Experiment

Biodiversity describes the different kinds of organisms found in an area. Scientists use biodiversity to measure the health of a particular ecosystem or habitat. For example, a pond with lily pads, aquatic grasses, insects, frogs, fish, and birds has a high biodiversity and would be considered a healthy ecosystem. The many kinds of plants found in this healthy pond provide food and shelter for different aquatic insects and small animals, which provide food for predators such as large fish and birds. Lowering the biodiversity of this pond by removing some of the plants or animals could harm all the other living things in this pond. In agriculture, high plant biodiversity (such as many kinds of flowering plants) around gardens or within orchards provide food and shelter for predators and parasitoids, which can control insect pests without the use of insecticides.

About the Experiment

It's time to get your hands dirty like a scientist! Try this experiment to measure biodiversity around your yard or school and see how biodiversity at the plant level affects biodiversity at the insect level.

	Details Ages: 5 - 12
	Time: 30 minutes
	Difficulty: Easy

 What You'll Need

• Pencil and paper
• Access to areas with two different soil types (garden, backyard, lawn, grass, dirt)
• String

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Let's Do This!

Warning: Be aware that some insects may sting. Younger explorers should conduct this experiment with an adult.

1. Use the string to create a 3-foot by 3-foot boundary around an outdoor area, such as a garden, lawn, grass, tree, etc.
2. Spend 8-10 minutes observing the area. Feel free to do a little lifting, moving, or digging to gain access to ground-dwelling insects.
3. Count and write down how many different types of plants, grasses, flowers, leaves, or weeds you see in that area. You don't need to count individual blades or leaves, just the different types in that area. Describe each item (four-leaf clover, crab grass, rose flower, spiny leaf, green pepper plant, etc.)
4. Count and write down how many different types of insects you see. Also write down the type of insect. If you don't know the type, describe the insect (color, shape, does it look like it belongs to a certain insect family, does if fly, how many legs).
5. For each insect, write down what it appears to be doing. Is it looking for food, looking for shelter, looking to return somewhere? Is it pollinating a plant or chewing on a leaf? Is it defending itself or trying to protect a certain area?
6. Repeat these steps in a different area and write down your observances.

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What Did You Learn?

1. How do the two habitats differ? Did one habitat have more types of plants than the other?
2. Which habitat had more insects? Which habitat had more types of insects?
3. How might plant diversity affect insect diversity?
4. Did you see the insects doing anything interesting? Were any eating plants? Were any eating other insects?
5. Where were the insects located? Were they on the plants, hovering around, or were they on the ground?
6. Were there differences between habitats in where the insects were located and what they were doing.
7. Which area had a healthier biodiversity, and why?

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Aeromonas hydrophila has ravaged the catfish farming industry in Alabama and other states since its discovery in 2009. The bacterial disease causes hemorrhages on the fish’s body, loss of orientation, and rapid death. Last year, Alabama catfish farmers lost about $13.5 million in revenue – 9% higher than the previous year – due to fish mortality, costs of medicated feed and chemical treatments, and lost feeding days.

Scientists are taking a holistic approach to their research, systematically studying the impact of diet, oxygen depletion, chemical treatments, abrasions, parasite infections, and more to understand how the pathogen works.

Read this article to learn more

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Farmers have long used pesticides to protect their plants and crops from hungry pests, such as the spotted wing drosophila fly (SWD). This beautiful creature has wreaked havoc on farms in the west, causing over $700 million annually in crop damage. Farmers fight SWD with synthetic insecticides, but that can be expensive and is also harmful to the environment, contributes to pesticide resistance, and may be harmful to humans.

ARS researchers may have found an organic alternative from a substance we use every day at home. Methyl benzoate is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants, and its fruity and floral aroma makes it a staple in perfumes and cosmetics and as a food additive. Nature also employs it to attract pollinators. When used as an organic pesticide, however, it’s been shown to kill or repel many insects in various stages of development, including mosquitoes, bed bugs, fire ants, ticks, flies, moths, and the brown marmorated stink bug. Perhaps most important, however, is its ability to repel and kill SWD, a major destroyer of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. Because methyl benzoate is an environmentally friendly, bio-based compound, it has great potential to be used by people for human protection as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. It also costs less than synthetic pesticide treatments.

Read "Organic Multitasking: From Human Food Additive to Pesticide" to learn more. 

Microalgae is the Bee’s Knees

We love to eat the honey that honeybees produce, but what do honeybees eat?

The usual answer to this question is nectar and pollen. However, malnutrition in honeybees – a major reason why they’re growing more susceptible to pathogens, parasites, and pesticides – is a growing issue in the world of agriculture.

Fortunately, ARS scientists with the ARS Honeybee Breeding, Genetics, and Physiology Research Laboratory in Baton Rouge, LA, have discovered another option on the honeybee menu: microscopic algae, or “microalgae.”

Read this longer article to find out more.

Protecting Pecans with Friendly Fungi

On July 1, 1930, ARS began its pecan research and breeding program in Austin, TX. Their efforts helped the United States became the world’s leading producer of pecans with a crop estimated to be worth over $560 million.

Now, scientists at the ARS Fruit and Tree Nut Research Station in Byron, GA, and research partners at Fort Valley State University and University of Georgia have developed newer and smarter ways to protect this beloved crop.

The team identified two “friendly fungi,” Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum. Both fungi can control economically damaging insects like pecan weevils, aphids, and stink bugs. There is also a correlation between those fungi and the growth of the plants they’re applied to, leading to increased plant height, number of leaves, and root length.

Read a longer article to learn more.

USDA/NASA Research on the International Space Station

Sure, space travel is super cool, but there is no shortage of challenges when it comes to space travel and colonization, mainly having enough oxygen, food, and water. Space travel in the future is expected to last from several months to years, and astronauts will need to maintain healthy diets during those extended voyages.

Have you ever wondered how NASA will provide food for astronauts on a really long flight, say to Mars?

Well, scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service are working with NASA to develop sustainable farming techniques and technologies to grow fresh produce while in spaceflight.

Check out these stories to learn how.

How to Feed an Astronaut

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Growing Plants in Space – An "Under the Microscope" interview with Dr. Raymond Wheeler, a plant physiologist with NASA's Exploration Research and Technology programs at the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida

ARS Scientists Develop Ever-Flowering Fruit To Feed Astronauts - ARS scientists genetically engineered plum trees to continually flower and produce fruit, offering the potential to grow fresh fruit on long-duration space missions.

Nematodes in Space: The Final Frontier for Little Worms - Researchers at ARS's Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Station sent beneficial nematodes to the International Space Station to study their use as an eco-friendly pest control in space.

Terrestrial Fungus May Be Key To Farming In Space - ARS scientists found that an airborne fungus dramatically accelerates plant growth.

Watch What You Eat … From Space - ARS researchers are working with NASA to develop a new way for astronauts to watch over the fresh foods they will farm on extended space voyages.