User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The location that I have chosen to study is a section of land adjacent to Mimico Creek, which is situated between two residential streets in west Toronto, Ontario. The creek extends a total of 33km in length, however, I will be observing only a portion of the land approximately 20 m long x 15 m deep. The creek water is approximately one meter below the creek bank, and most of the vegetation exists on elevated area. The area surrounding the creek is on a gradual slope upwards away from the water that contains various types of different green vegetation with minimal flowers. The vegetation includes various perennial plants, grasses, weeds, and trees. The density and height of the vegetation varies across the study area, depending on the distance from the creek and varying sunlight exposure due to shade provided by trees. The ground consists of scattered grass, dirt, and small rocks. There is a man-made footpath that runs adjacent to the creek.
I visited the observation area at 12:00 EST, on August 5, 2019. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds, with a temperature of 25°C and wind speed of 34 km/h.
While visiting the site, I noticed that there was one dominant plant,Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis). I observed that the height of the plant varied significantly depending on its location. It appeared to be shorter in the shaded area directly next to the creek, and taller approximately 10 m from the creek in the elevated area situated in direct sunlight. Additionally, there was more plant growth (species density) in the elevated area with greatest exposure to sunlight. Thus, this presents a few potential topics of study.
Three potential study questions:
- What is the effect of distance from the creek/elevation on plant height and density?
- What is the effect of sunlight on plant height and density?
- What environmental or anthropogenic factors affect the observed distribution of plant species?
