One of the outcomes of research preserves and field stations is long-term ecological monitoring. The repeated observation of natural environments over decades reveals patterns in species diversity and abundance, and how population trends respond to environmental variation, including the role of human influence. This project aims to leverage both historical data and a significant disturbance planned by Stanford University to track long-term variation in flying insect populations.

Researchers aim to answer:

• How do abundance and community composition of flying insects around Searsville Lake and Middle Lake today compare to what was documented in 2013?
• How will the abundance and community composition of flying insects surrounding Searsville Lake and Middle Lake change with modification of Searsville dam?

Flying insects are trapped in bottles hanging at the top of the nets, insects are collectively weighed. Then, to establish species diversity, collection bottles are shipped for sequencing -- they are processed for accessioning, including specimen identification to order and databasing, before tissue is sampled for genetic analysis. The study follows malaise trap sampling protocols from the Global Malaise Trap Program and samples at sites previously studied by David Moreno Mateos, Chau Minh Ho, Mark Valentine, Edward Hill, Rachel Fox, and Angie Nakano in 2012-2013, including east and west sides on the upper half of Searsville Lake and along Middle Lake.

This project is supported in part by a California Institute for Biodiversity grant.