User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I had a few difficulties with my random stratified sampling strategy. I was using a random number generator to get coordinates on where my quadrats should be for sampling. It took a long time to find coordinates in each strata that worked. It was also difficult to find the coverage of moss in each quadrat because I was counting the individual squares. The average time for one quadrat was approximately 30 minutes.
I was surprised to find moss in areas in an open field (0% canopy cover). It was surprising because the area gets direct sunlight the whole day, and horses are present in the field. I was also surprised to find moss in areas with almost full canopy cover, considering the ground was either covered in leaf debris or conifer debris (needles).
I plan to modify my approach in data collection. I’m going to use a piece of paper which is 10 cm x 10 cm. This will make the paper be 100 square cm and will be handy in counting moss abundance in the quadrat. The paper could be folded in half to represent 50 squares, in a quarter to represent 25 squares. This technique will make collecting data much easier. If the moss doesn’t completely cover the paper, I can subtract the squares moss isn’t present. This modification will improve the accuracy of data as well as shorten the sampling time for each quadrat.
this sounds like a good modification.