User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I used the haphazard / area sampling strategy. The only difficulty I had was finding enough replicates. I had to return to the site and establish two more plots to ensure that I had 10 replicates for each environmental gradient. I choose the haphazard strategy because I felt if I used random or systematic plot location that I may not have found enough representative Cedar trees within a reasonable amount of plot locations. My only concern with haphazard is the potential for introducing bias into the research.
I will continue to use the established plots but will begin collecting additional information specifically for each tree. Every Cedar tree within my plots has been marked and numbered.
To better test my hypothesis and if had the time to set up a long-term research project I think I would design this experiment to be manipulative in a controlled environment. I think a manipulative experiment could help determine the level of resistance with better accuracy.
