User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The area that I have chosen to study is a boreal forest behind my home near Toronto, Canada during the month of December. I frequently walk through a man made pathway that goes over slightly steep hills that span the forest. Since it is December, the temperatures are cold and snow is covering the ground of the forest. Leafless white birch, balsam poplar, and trembling aspen as well as many different types of conifers such as black and white spruce, jackpine, and tamarack are abundant during this time. I’ve also seen lichens, shrubs, and mosses. Much of the area is forested and there are a few bogs as well. The animals that I usually see during the winter are squirrels, rabbits, birds, but I have heard of others seeing deers and wolves as well. The potential subjects that I am considering for this project are coniferous trees since they are the most abundant during this time of year. One idea that would be interesting to study is to see if elevation has an effect on the abundance of coniferous trees since they prefer dry, arid conditions and there are many hills throughout the forest. I could compare the abundance of conifers in bogs compared to other areas in the forest. I could also take a look at the types and abundance of animals as the elevation increases.
