Field Study of Flowers and Pollinators
Insect Visitation Rates
Data Analysis
Independent variables:
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Plant (flower) species
Time of day
Weather conditions
Dependent variables:

Number of insect visits
Sampling:
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
Each observation period (~15 minutes) is a single sample
Depending on the question you are trying to answer, you can pool data samples together.
Other Important Calculations:
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Length of observation periods in minutes
Insect Visitation Rate (VR)
Averages
(Ranges)
Formula for Insect Visitation Rate (VR):
𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 (𝑽𝑹) =
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔
(𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑿 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔)
(See page 56 of PlantingScience guide for more information)
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Variations for younger grades :
o For younger grades, standardize the number of minutes by using a common number
of minutes (for the data set, this would be 15 minutes). So the formula could be:
𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝟏𝟓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 (𝑽𝑹) =
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑠
(𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠)
o For even younger grades, standardize the number of flowers (for instance by simply
removing that variable and imagining the number of flowers were equivalent). Thus,
the VR would simply be the number of insect visits. The student challenges would be
in graphing and making sense of their data.
Teresa M. Woods
Field Study of Flowers and Pollinators
Insect Visitor Composition
Data Analysis
Independent variables:



Plant (flower) species
Time of day
Weather conditions
Dependent variables:


Identification of insect visitors,
Number of visits by each type of insect
Sampling:


Each observation period (~15 minutes) is a single sample
Depending on the question you are trying to answer, you can pool data samples together.
Other Important Calculations:
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

Total visits of each insect type
Grand total of all insect visits
Percentages of visits by each insect type
Formula for Insect Visitor Composition:
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒆 =
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚
𝑿 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒔
(See pages 60-61 of PlantingScience guide for more information)
Teresa M. Woods