It was a challenge to organize and summarize my data, but once I had figured out what the most important parts of my research were, it was easier for me to visualize them. My prediction was that there would be a greater abundance of large woody vegetation (e.g. trees) on the eastern, westerly facing side of Jack Creek.
Hypothesis: If the landscape has a higher elevation, and is westerly facing, then a greater abundance of large woody vegetation will be present. Prediction: A greater amount of large woody vegetation will be present in western facing slopes with a higher degree of aspect and elevation. Response Variable: Large woody vegetation abundance Explanatory (predictor) Variable: Elevation and aspect
During my field data collection, I took counts of both trees and shrubs to create comparison. I took an average of the vegetation count to the number of data points to create an accurate representation of the data. Below are two graphs representing the average number of species in response to elevation and aspect.
Figure. 1Average number of species is explained in response to changes in elevation. Species are divided into two groups 1. Trees (large woody vegetation) and, 2. Shrubs (small vegetation). Total is included to show linear response over the environmental gradient. In general, total number of species decreased with increases in elevation. The null hypothesis is rejected as there is a greater number of large woody vegetation with increased elevation, however, the greatest abundance of large woody vegetation occurs at an elevation of 540 MASL.Figure 2.Average number of species is examined in response to varying degrees of aspect (North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West, and Flat). Species are divided into two groups 1. Trees (large woody vegetation) and, 2. Shrubs (small vegetation). Total is included to show linear response over the environmental gradient. A clear correlation exists between abundance of trees in westerly, south-westerly, and north-easterly facing slopes. This accurately reflects the natural landscape of Jack Creek, which flows north to south within a gully. The null hypothesis is rejected as there is a greater abundance of large woody vegetation on the westerly facing, high elevation slopes.
The outcome of my field studies was slightly different than I expected, however, it reveals that further exploration is necessary as to why there was a greater amount of vegetation in the flat meadows 15 metres on the western side of the creek. Other factors might influence the data, such as disturbance, opens fields, and amount of sunlight.
