User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I have started collecting data for my research project whose aim is to study the effect of soil and wind quality on the prevalence of the nodding onion plant in industrial areas surrounding my house. My area of sampling is divided into 15 sections. 5 sections located farthest from the industrial site, where the first to be sampled. The next 5 sections to be sampled was located at the equal-distance farthest and nearest industrial site while the last 5 sections to be sampled was located nearest to the industrial site. Each section consists of a quadrant. Therefore, in total, 15 quadrants were sampled for this project. The random sampling method was chosen to effectuate this study. Each quadrant was estimated to be 0.7×1.2m. At each quadrant, the nodding onion species was recorded and its cover was also measured. So far, I have measured 7 quadrants in this project. 2 quadrants farthest away from the industrial site, 3 quadrants nearest the site and 2 quadrants located at equal distance to the industrial site. I encountered several difficulties during the sampling procedures. Firstly, in some areas farthest from the industrial site, there was a significantly greater proportion of other plants most notably the Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum). Given the fact that this plant was taller than the nodding onion plant, it was sometimes difficult to locate this plant within a quadrant and record it. Access to some sampling areas was difficult, therefore accurate results were not obtained for some of the quadrants. Due to the fact that I recorded higher than expected amounts of the nodding onion species in two out of the 3 quadrants nearest to the industrial measured so far, additional factors such as the amount of sunlight each site receives as well as the proximity of the site to surface water will have to be taken into consideration. At this point, I have not yet fully ascertained which variable has an effect on nodding onion abundance: Soil quality, wind direction, proximity to surface water or sunlight. My hypothesis is centered on the effect of soil quality and wind direction. However, these other variables listed above will also have to be considered.
