Beetle Richness and Abundance Across Land Use Types

• Alexandra Hemelt, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Delaware

• Jennifer Peterson, Entomology, University of Delaware

In this project, I assessed beetle diversity and abundance throughout different land uses in Delaware to identify if there are any trends between land use and the change in diversity of coleopterans. To this end, I collected data by setting up a light sheet in the woods with blacklights to collect individuals. Landuses were defined as residential, mixed use and reserves. I found that the highest beetle abundance and diversity was found in residential land use areas. As the overall diversity of insects is dropping due to climate change and other external factors, the concern for biodiversity increases in the environmental science world. My findings show that residential areas and small areas of biodiversity play a large part in increasing overall biodiversity. Beetles are the largest insect order with over 350,000 species, and their impact on the environment is great. They are one of the biggest decomposers and especially in the Delmarva peninsula, which has a high biodiversity. Biodiversity is important because if the earth is healthy, it means the animals are healthy which means the people are healthy.