User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
For the initial collection of data, there were no issues encountered. However, in some areas close to the industrial site, I observed a much denser canopy of the nodding onion plant than expected. In the future, I plan to carry out soil and air quality testing of the presence of heavy metals in these areas at proximity to the industrial site. This might explain the higher than expected amount of the nodding onion plant in some patches of land close to the industrial site. Areas at proximity to the industrial site might have a higher penetrance of sunlight than areas farthest from the industrial site and this might be a plausible explanation for the denser than expected canopy of nodding onions closest to the industrial site. Additionally, wind direction might be of importance and has to be taken into consideration when performing the sampling of plant species in this area. One change that I will perform in the future will be to determine the prevalence of more plant species other than the nodding onion species described above. This will permit to have a more general overview of all species that might be affected by the presence of heavy metals in the soil.
