Abstract
The relatively new native landscape on the East side of Nova Southeastern University’s Parker building provided an opportunity to compare its associated faunal communities with those from an exotic landscape on the West side of the Parker building. Weekly visual surveys using a belt transect were conducted on both sides of the building on the same days over the study period. Four surveys have been completed thus far and 99 individuals were recorded in the native landscape while 87 were recorded in the exotic landscape; of those in the exotic landscape 35.6% were exotic animal species. The most abundant species over all was the native halictid solitary bee. Contrary to our expectations, only eight species were recorded in the native landscape, whereas 12 species were noted in the exotic landscape. While this does not support the hypothesis that native plants bring in more native fauna and support higher biodiversity than non-native plants, our preliminary result could be due to limited time for the new landscape to establish. The exotic landscape has been in place for at least ten years and the native landscape was planted April 2013. Many of the native plants are small and have yet to reach their mature size.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Paul Arena
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-4-2014 1:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2014 5:30 PM
Faunal Associations with Native and Nonnative Landscapes
Alvin Sherman Library
The relatively new native landscape on the East side of Nova Southeastern University’s Parker building provided an opportunity to compare its associated faunal communities with those from an exotic landscape on the West side of the Parker building. Weekly visual surveys using a belt transect were conducted on both sides of the building on the same days over the study period. Four surveys have been completed thus far and 99 individuals were recorded in the native landscape while 87 were recorded in the exotic landscape; of those in the exotic landscape 35.6% were exotic animal species. The most abundant species over all was the native halictid solitary bee. Contrary to our expectations, only eight species were recorded in the native landscape, whereas 12 species were noted in the exotic landscape. While this does not support the hypothesis that native plants bring in more native fauna and support higher biodiversity than non-native plants, our preliminary result could be due to limited time for the new landscape to establish. The exotic landscape has been in place for at least ten years and the native landscape was planted April 2013. Many of the native plants are small and have yet to reach their mature size.
