Katie Milo

Period 2 APES
10/7/15

Leaf Litter Lab

Purpose: to examine and analyze biodiversity and organisms of leaf litter in neighboring areas
Procedure:
1. Collect leaf litter from nearby forest.
2. Use pliers or pipette to remove organism from alcohol.
3. Use the arthropod identification sheet to identify the organisms you find. If you can't identify
the specific organism, group the organisms based on common characteristics and describe
them.
4. Calculate the Simpson's Index of Biodiversity to find the biodiversity.
5. Share your findings.
Data:
Biome- forest: dark, damp, cool, lots of trees and leaves
Air temperature- 74 F degrees
Humidity- 52
Wind Speed- 10 mph North
Absolute/ Relative Abundance:
Species(i)

Absolute Abundance(ni)

Relative Abundance(pi)

Milipede(diplopoda)

.5

.25

.25

Diversity Index: 5/6

Simpson's Index of Diversity for Lead Litter Samples by Lab Group:
Lab
Group #

Simpson' .70
s Index of
Diversity

.60

.86

Calculations:
Relative Abundance:
2/4 =.5
1/4= .25
1/4= .25
Simpson's Index:
D=1- 2(2-1) +1(1-1) +1(1-1)/ 4(4-1) = 1- 2/12 = 1- 1/6= 5/6

Analysis:
90% of the biomass in a forest is returned to the soil.
There is 1 and 1/2 times more energy stored in the soil and leaf litter of a forest as
compared to the trees of a forest.
30% of leaves and wood on the forest floor is recycled as a result of mites and
springtails.
The two organisms with the lowest relative abundance are organism a and b.
Unfortunately, since they were the unidentified organisms that had the lowest relative
abundance, i can't give specific names or foods that they eat. We think that they were flies
because of their wings and body segmentation. Organism A has two segments to its body and
organism B has three segments to its body. I would predict that they eat dead organisms.
The mites and springtails make up 0% of my sample.
The organism with the greatest absolute abundance and greatest relative abundance
was the millipede.
The two organisms with the lowest absolute abundance and lowest relative abundance
were organisms A and B.
The Simpsons index for my sample was 5/6. This indicates a high level of diversity. It is
high because it has a variety of species in the area. This may be because the span of area that
the organisms live in is large, allowing for more population to live there. As time goes on, more
and more species arrive and adapt, leading to diversity.
The other lab tables' Simpson's Index of Diversity range from 0 to .60 to .70 to .86 to 1.
This shows a great difference in index. I am not surprised. Because there was a difference in
calculated index, it implies that there may have been more organisms in certain areas than
others.
The negative phototaxis affected the number of organisms falling into the alcohol filled
beaker because the animals in this forest biome are not attracted to light. They live in this biome
specifically because it has low amounts of light. When the light shined on the top of the leaf
litter, the organisms tried getting away from it and scurrying to the bottom. Finally, they fall into
the bottle of alcohol.
Yes, biodiversity values does show the difference in more stable sights. An abiotic factor
that might be responsible for this would be that the area has more sunlight than another,
pushing the organisms under the leaf litter. A biotic factor that might be responsible would be

that a recent predator had just finished hunting on its prey and that the organism wasn't there
for the time being.
Some arthropods related specifically to the forest would be the caterpillar searcher and
long slim centipedes. The caterpillar searcher usually climbs trees and controls the gypsy moth
population. The centipedes like going through holes in the soil in search for earthworms to eat.
(University of Illinois, 2015)
Cryptobiosis is a state caused by freezing, oxygen deficiency, or other environmental
conditions that cause the organisms to stop metabolic flow and overall growth of the organism.
It may benefit arthropods by maintaining their physical integrity and protect from abiotic factors.
(AskNature, 2015)
The earthworm plays the decomposer role and breaks down dead organisms in the
temperate forest biome. The millipede plays the primary consumer or the decomposer role and
eats either dead organisms and leaves or fungi and sucks plant fluids. The termite plays the
primary consumer role and eats wood from trees.
Biological diversity is very important to an ecosystem because it allows the cycle of
evolution and the food web to go around with strength. By having biological diversity, organisms
have the ability to rely on other food sources if one of them goes extinct or is unable to be
reached.
Spirit Bear
Bird
Spider

Ant

Springtail
ss
Fungi

Comparing the two biomes (Temperate Deciduous Forest AND Tropical Rain Forest),
both have ants and ... and have most activity participating on the forest floor. Contrasting the
two biomes, there is a leaf litter with an extreme intense biological activity occurring on top of it
in the tropical rain forest. It has more biodiversity concentrated there than in any other terrestrial
forest. They also have the organism called weevils.

Citations
AskNature. (2015). Cryptobiosis protects from extremes: Waterbear. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
University of Illinois. (2015). Chapter 7: Arthropods. Retrieved October 9, 2015.