1150+ species in a suburban backyard

[Helix]

This is a terrific story that spawned a research paper during the lockdown. Three housemates decided to spend their lockdown documenting the species diversity in their house and garden.

Being restricted to the house, it didn’t take long before we began to wonder how many species of plants and animals we were sharing the space with. So we set to work counting them all.

We guessed we would find around 200–300, and many of our colleagues guessed the same.

They found a lot more than that -- 1,150 species on 400 sq. m.

Read about it here: https://theconversation.com/we-thou...-our-house-and-yard-we-were-very-wrong-217082

The paper is not currently open access, unfortunately.

 

[Introversion]

They found a lot more than that -- 1,150 species on 400 sq. m.

Neat! And I’ll bet it would be tens or hundreds of thousands if they also counted all the small life in their soil?

 

[dickson]

On a related note, of diversity, I once found an odd-looking insect in my yard. It was a long (two inches) skinny winged creature, with a lozenge shape overall, and something that looked like a stinger at its rear. Flew off before I coukd do more than give it one good long look.

I’d never seen anything like it before, and went online to see what I could learn. I did find something that resembled it (at this remove of time I don’t recall latin binomials or the like). What blew my mind was learning that the insect depicted belonged to a genus with tens of thousands of known species.

The biologist J. Haldane was asked what one could infer about the nature of God from examining His creation. Hardy‘s reply: “(He has) An inordinate fondness for beetles.”

Coulda been a beetle.

 

[Helix]

Neat! And I’ll bet it would be tens or hundreds of thousands if they also counted all the small life in their soil?

For sure!

Matthew Holden, one of the authors, tweeted an image from the paper with a bar chart of the groups and the number of species:

1. Butterflies & moths - 436 spp
2. Flies - 109 spp
3. Plants - 103 spp
4. Beetles - 95 spp
5. Ants, wasps, bees - 88 spp
6. Bugs (Hemiptera) - 78 spp
7. Spiders & related groups - 63 spp
8. Birds - 56 spp
9. Insects (other) - 49 spp
10. Arthropods (other) - 30 spp
11. Fungi - 13 spp
12. Mammals - 11 spp
13. Reptiles - 8 spp
14. Molluscs - 5 spp
15. Amphibians - 2 spp
16. Animal (other) - 2 spp
17. Earthworms & leeches - 2 spp

I reckon fungi is under-represented. Not sure where lichens fit into this, but I'd imagine they're bundled under plants.

 

[mccardey]

Great article I wish I knew how to differentiate minibeasts. I'd love to know how many I have here, and what they all are.

I bought a cheap security-camera set-up (two cameras and a hub) and put it out in a couple of places in the garden. It captures all sorts of birdlife during the day (birds seem to want to investigate it) and possums and bushrats at night. I love waking up to see the footage. I'm hoping to catch sight of the wombat or Martha-the-turtle or that bloody fox.

I did see the neighbour's cat once.

ETA: It also captures rather a lot of Matilda's butt, because that patch of the garden is where she likes to unbury and rebury the now 7 month old egg that she keeps trying to hide in the house while I'm not looking. Few things more disturbing than a pup with a muddy, raw, 7 month old egg it its sharp little jaws...

 

[Friendly Frog]

I reckon fungi is under-represented. Not sure where lichens fit into this, but I'd imagine they're bundled under plants.

I would agree they're under-represented. I have been doing a little of my own garden species identification since I got a smartphone that could support the observations.org app, and I am at 17 mushroom species in two years just from the garden. (Okay, so it's mainly because the mushrooms don't fly away when I point my camera at them. Stupid cowardly tiny bees.... )

Still, 1150 IS impressive, I doubt I ever going to come close. (Again, stupid cowardly tiny bees...)

 

[Helix]

Still, 1150 IS impressive, I doubt I ever going to come close. (Again, stupid cowardly tiny bees...)

Tiny bees are the worst. I suspect most of those 88 spp of Hymenoptera are tiny bees.

 

[Friendly Frog]

So many tiny bees! IMO they're worse than beetles! I know they're there, I know they're at least one different species if not more, I just can't get a good enough pictures to go beyond 'tiny bee sp.' The book's no help either.

And then I haven't even mentioned dragonflies, who are sometimes only identified by their genetalia, which is at best microscope work and probably embarrassing for the both of us... "Escuse me, madam demoiselle - oh pardon! Mademoiselle demoiselle, do you mind if I fondle your tiny butt with a pincer for science?"

 

[mccardey]

Slight derail, but since we're in the back garden, imagine being a little baby bunnyrabbit frolicking in amongst the strawberries on a rainy summer day and Tilly sees you and suddenly you'r



Seriously, Matilda. You should at least give some kind of warning.

 

[SWest]

...Seriously, Matilda. You should at least give some kind of warning.

She must be a Non-Sporting breed... *wink*