Use of 3-Dimensional Videography as a Non-Lethal Way to Improve Visual Insect Sampling

Abstract

Insects, the most diverse and abundant animal species on the planet, are critical in providing numerous ecosystem services which are significant to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). In addition to the UN-SDGs, the UN has declared the period 2021–2030 as the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.” Insects, because of the ecosystem services they provide, are critical indicators of restoration success. While the importance of insects in providing ecosystem services and their role in helping fulfil the UN-SDGs is recognized, traditional techniques to monitor insects may result in observer bias, high rates of type-I and type-II statistical error, and, perhaps most alarmingly, are often lethal. Since insects are critical in maintaining global food security, contribute to biological control and are a key food source for higher trophic levels, lethal sampling techniques which may harm insect populations are undesirable. In this study, we propose a method to visually sample insects which involves non-lethal 3-dimensional video cameras and virtual reality headsets. A total of eight observers viewed video captured insects visiting floral resources in a landscaped area on a university campus. While interobserver variability existed among individuals who partook in this study, the findings are similar to previous visual sampling studies. We demonstrate a combination of 3D video and virtual reality technology with a traditional insect count methodology, report monitoring results, and discuss benefits and future directions to improve insect sampling using these technologies. While improving quantitative monitoring techniques to study insects and other forms of life should always be strived for, it is a fitting time to introduce non-lethal sampling techniques as preservation and restoration of biodiversity are essential components of the UN-SDGs and the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”.

Insect Abundance and Diversity Respond Favorably to Vegetation Communities on Interim Reclamation Sites in a Semi-Arid Natural Gas Field

“…Additionally, when combined into ecological roles, insects and other arthropods from each functional group were found in higher abundance on reclaimed well pads with the Rocky Mountain bee plant compared to other vegetation types. While insect sampling techniques can bias results due to a variety of factors [48], the fact we used a sweep net technique undoubtedly led to us capturing fewer ground dwelling insects than truly existed in our study system. Even so, more detritivores and predatory insects were found on bee plant sites than in other communities.…”

Ecological Restoration Practices within a Semi-arid Natural Gas Field Improve Insect Abundance and Diversity during Early and Late Growing Season

“…Finally, this study was limited to one method of insect sampling (sweep netting), which is biased towards capturing flying insects or other insects within the canopy of the vegetation. It is to be expected other insect sampling techniques would yield different results [43]. Future studies using pitfall traps would be beneficial to understand how ground-dwelling insects respond to reclamation and restoration within the Jonah Field.…”

Insect Abundance and Richness Response to Ecological Reclamation on Well Pads 5–12 Years into Succession in a Semi-Arid Natural Gas Field

“…As each management area varied in elevation and proximity to the river in the southern portion of the Pinedale Anticline natural gas field (Figure 1) and because insect sampling may be heavily influenced by a number of factors aside from vegetation (e.g., elevation, proximity to other resources, time of day, temperature, etc.) [57][58][59], we did not attempt to correlate insect abundance and diversity with vegetation cover. Instead, the vegetation and insect analyses were conducted independently among study areas described in Section 2.2.…”