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In this pilot study, we compared the species richness (the number of different species found in a sample) of Lake Osceola and the Gifford Arboretum at the University of Miami. We performed this study because we wanted to observe any differences between the species richness in an aquatic environment and a terrestrial environment on the same campus. Previous studies conducted on species richness have identified that increased moisture, high temperatures, water rich soils, smaller leaf size, and smaller plant size are all factors that could potentially increase species richness.123

Based on this research, we hypothesized that Lake Osceola would have a higher species richness than the University of Miami Arboretum due to being an aquatic environment.

Our alternative hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference in species richness between Lake Osceola and the University of Miami Arboretum Our null hypothesis was that there would be no significant difference in species richness between Lake Osceola and the University of Miami Arboretum.

INTRODUCTIONMETHODS

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONWe failed to reject our null hypothesis which means there was no significant different in the species richness between Lake Osceola and the Gifford Arboretum. Our experiment shows Lake Osceola, an aquatic environment, had a similar average D value as the Gifford Arboretum, a terrestrial environment. This adds to what is known in the field because our pilot data shows no correlation between aquatic environments and high species richness despite previous studies. However, many things could have affected our results, such as time of year and other abiotic factors like light level, temperature and chemical composition. Additionally, Lake Osceola is a freshwater water habitat which means it likely has more osmoregulatory organisms which could have also affected our results. If we were to do this study in the future with more resources, we would take more samples in each habitat and at different points in the year. Additionally, we would look at different aquatic (fresh, marine and brackish) and terrestrial habitats on campus and in other areas in Florida to see if there was a significant difference among those.

REFERENCES1. Li, X., Tan, H., He, M. et al. Patterns of shrub species richness and abundance in relation to environmental factors

on the Alxa Plateau: Prerequisites for conserving shrub diversity in extreme arid desert

2. McGlone, PS, and SJ Richardson. “Comparative Biogeography of New Zealand Trees: Species Richness, Height, Leaf Traits and Range Sizes.” Comparative Biogeography of New Zealand Trees: Species Richness, Height, Leaf Traits and Range Sizes - Open Access Repository, 1 Jan. 2010, eprints.utas.edu.au/10601/.regions. Sci. China Ser.

D-Earth Sci. 52, 669–680 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-009-0054-7

3. Pausas, J.G., Carreras, J. The effect of bedrock type, temperature and moisture on species richness of Pyrenean Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests. Vegetatio 116, 85–92 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00045281

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThank you to the University of Miami Biology Department, Linda White, Dana

Kremples and Yuanming Lu.

Lenox Hill, Roy Miloh, Yasmin Wagner, Katie Zurek

Difference in Species Richness on the University of Miami Campus

Figure 1. This graph shows the different Menhinick’s Indices between each sample collected in the different environments. most of the samples show a higher diversity level for the arboretum compared to the samples from Lake Osceola.

Figure 2. This graph illustrates the different numbers of species in each sample that were collected. L stands for Lake Osceola and A

stands for the Arboretum.

Figure 3. This box plot shows the average D

values between the two different locations: Lake

Osceola and Gifford Arboretum. Once again, it shows that the D values

for the Arboretum is higher than the values for

Lake Osceola, but the difference is not large

enough for it to be considered significant.

• The Menhinick’s Indices/D values measures the species richness of a sample.We calculated the D value for each of our 12 samples using the equation to the right. ◦ Average D Value for Lake Osceola: 2.580548825 ◦ Average D Value for Arboretum: 2.923005702

• We ran the the Mann Whitney U test with these values to see if the differences in species richness levels between the two different habitats are statistically significant.

• The U value calculated was 12. • Critical value was 5. • The calculated value was higher than the critical value

therefore, we failed to reject the null hypothesis.

MATERIALS

Phone Measuring Stick

Transect Tape Collection Vessel

Plastic Sample Cups Ruler

Coverslips

Plastic Droppers Disposable Plastic Straws

Kimwipes DI Water

Indelible marker pH strips

Disposable Gloves