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The figure below (Figure 1) depicts dabbling duck abundance at my selected point count locations (1 through 8) in Colony Farm Regional Park. My research focused on habitat selection by dabbling ducks within constructed drainage channels that varied in percent cover of emergent vegetation. I initially wanted to show the average abundance per point count location, however, the total number of ducks observed during my data collection was lower than I would have hoped. Thus, I used the total number of dabbling ducks observed at each point count location. The low numbers also presented some challenges later on when assessing statistical significance, as it would likely have benefited me to have greater sample sizes to work with to truly assess any preference or habitat selection by the ducks I observed. Summarizing the data I did have, however, was fairly straightforward, and is shown below. 
Figure 1. Total number of dabbling ducks counted at point count locations 1 through 8 within drainage channels of varying emergent vegetation percent cover.
During data analysis, I ended up grouping the point count location results into three groups based on emergent vegetation cover: Group 1 = <25% cover, Group 2 = less than or equal to 25% but <50% cover, and Group 3 = greater than or equal to 50% cover. I divided the groups in this manner to see if there proved to be a significant difference between the varying amounts of emergent vegetation cover and how this may have affected abundance.
Since my initial prediction was that duck abundance would increase with increasing emergent vegetation cover in the drainage channels, my results surprised me. I was not expecting so much variation in my results, with the greatest number of ducks observed within the channel that had only 30% emergent vegetation cover. I also discovered that variations in duck abundance between groups were also not statistically significant.
In future, I would conduct this study later into September when more dabbling ducks are present within the park to generate a larger sample size (seasonal effect). With greater resources, I would have also measured other factors within the drainage channels, including water quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature) and perhaps also water depth. With more time, I also would have conducted sampling events during different seasons over multiple years to see if this affected my results. It is clear from relevant literature that I have come across during my research project that understanding habitat selection for species can play an important role in habitat management and conservation of protected areas.
