Coming back to John Bowne High School Farm for the second round of sampling, some changes were very evident, for instance, the Brassicas (Broccoli) and the Cucumbers were now fully mature and older, and the flowers in the beneficial habitat had flourished, and blossomed.
This week of doing the second round of sampling allowed us to compare and contrast the results and findings from the first round of sampling. For instance, we noticed an increase in the number of ground beetles trapped in the beneficial habitat, possibly implying that the flourishing native flowery plants were able to attract more beneficial insects. However, it’s also naive to conclude that these native flowery plants only attract beneficial insects. Comparing our previous results, we noticed an increase in the number of leafhoppers(pest insects) trapped. Curious about this finding, we raised this question during our weekly meetings, and Amara, our faculty sponsor, shared with us a resource that confirmed our findings that; even though native flowery plants help to control some pest insects, some pests can utilize the resources of native flowery plants leading to their increase in population. However, what stands out is that the benefits offered by the native flowery plants outweigh such shortcomings.