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For my study, I hypothesize that Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate) will be more abundant on hill tops versus valleys. I did not have any difficulties with my sampling strategy. The data that I collected was surprising to me; the south side of the hill tops had little to no mature sagebrush, only juveniles that were less that 20 cm tall. I was expecting a more even distribution with more mature sagebrush on the south side. I did not yet gather data for the valleys. For next time, I will continue to use the same sampling strategy but I will change my approach slightly. In the future, I will use rope or something similar in order to show the exact edges of the quadrant. In order to avoid bias, I will use a predetermined amount of space between each quadrant and measure accurately. I will also obtain soil samples in order to determine the soil moisture content.
Hello afield. I am very interested in the outcome of your research, however I would like to know how you expect to be able to analyze your soil samples without the proper equipment? How will you obtaining your equipment? Other than that, look out for slippery rocks and prickly plants! Safe researching