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The Natural History Museum   Flora-for-Fauna  


You will need:
  • a book for identifying trees 
  • books for identifying insects and other invertebrates 
  • a large white sheet (or an umbrella) 
  • a stout stick — a rounders bat or walking stick will do fine 
  • magnifying glasses — and a low-power microscope if you have one 
  • boxes, trays, jars and bottles for the creatures you find 
  • printed copies of the invertebrate key 

What to do:
First you will need to find an introduced tree and a native tree (the database can tell you which native trees are found in your postcode).

Some suitable native trees:

     Some suitable introduced trees:
  • English oak (Quercus robur) 
  • Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) 
  • Silver birch (Betulus pendula) 
  • Elder (Sambucus nigra) 
  • Beech (Fagus sylvatica) 
  • Ash (Fraxinus exchelsior) 
  • Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) 
  • Wild cherry (Prunus avium) 
    
  • Horse chestnut or 'conker tree' (Aesculus hippocastanum) 
  • London plane (Platanus x hispanica) 
  • Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) 
  • Holm oak (Quercus ilex) 
  • White poplar (Populus alba) 

When you have found and identified your native and introduced trees (trees with plenty of leaves and low branches are best), first approach the introduced tree quietly and without touching the branches, and spread out the sheet (or up-turned umbrella) underneath a branch. Then give the branch one sudden, sharp knock with the stick. This method of sampling is known as beating.

If you are lucky, some invertebrates will fall onto your sheet. Carefully collect these creatures in boxes or jars, with some grass or leaves for them to shelter in, away from direct sunlight.

Now move on to your native tree and do exactly the same, keeping the collections from each tree separate.


Why must you approach the tree quietly, and not touch it before you knock the branch? — Because if the invertebrates are disturbed they will cling on tightly or drop off to escape you, and you will only dislodge a few — invertebrates aren't that stupid!

Back in the classroom, look at the animals from your two trees separately, and use identification keys to identify the kinds of animals you have found.

  • Count the numbers of individual animals and different kinds of animal that you have found on each tree. 
  • What do your results suggest?

Think about these questions:
  • What effects might planting different tree species have on local biodiversity? 
  • What kinds of trees would you prefer in your environment? (eg in local parks and gardens, school or college grounds, roadsides etc.)
VERY IMPORTANT!

Don't forget to return all the animals you have borrowed
to the SAME trees on which you found them.

 

Home   >   Discussion and fieldwork:    Thinking it through   |   Biodiversity threatened!
A tale of two trees    |   How diverse does your garden grow?


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