User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
On reflection of my field research project, there were several changes I made along the way following feedback from my professor and fellow students. I found submitting small assignments and blog posts throughout the course helpful in guiding my experimental design, and helpful when writing my final report.
Firstly, I have realised the importance of creating a hypothesis and prediction that are specific and can be proven or disproven with field data results. If a hypothesis wasn’t specific it would be very difficult to confidently say in your report if your statistical analysis has proven or disproven your hypothesis.
During my initial field collection and graph assignment, I learnt that presence/absence data is not the strongest indicator of plant species distribution and density (stems/m2) and ground cover (%) is a more accurate way to quantify plant species distribution. Following my initial field collection, I changed the way I was collecting data on my response variable (i.e., from presence / absence to density and ground cover for snowberry).
During my final field collection, I have learnt to appreciate the time needed to prepare for an efficient field sampling program. When I collected my initial field collection, I realised some inefficiencies in the way I was collecting data which I then amended before undertaking my final field collection. I was manually calculating slope incline as a percentage in the field, which I changed to using a clinometer which was much more efficient in the field. I was originally measuring out my quadrat at each location with a measuring tape and tent pegs, which was time consuming, so I took the time to make a PVC quadrat which was much more efficient in the field. I also decided to increase the data I was collecting, and added soil moisture, light exposure and pH to my field collection, which has proven to be very useful when analysing relationships in my data set.
When I was analysing my data and writing my final report, I appreciated the complexity of the natural world, where more than one or two variables would be contributing any observed patterns ecology. I was focussing on slope incline, but also looked at soil moisture, slope aspect and light exposure. On review of my data I think there are opportunities for future research to look at how these variables interact with each other through an ANOVA. I also identified some gaps and limitations in my data set, where additional study sites and additional data on soil parameters would be valuable.
I have enjoyed the content of this course and undertaking a field experiment which has increased my appreciation for ecology and ecological theory. I appreciate the use of statistics in ecology and the importance of strong data sets. My research focussed on one plant species which would be considered a relatively small-scale experiment and through my literature review I realised how my experimental design could be applied at multiple scales to guide land use planning and decision making. My literature review has increased my appreciation of scale in ecology, made me realise how my research project can be scaled up and applied to mapping systems and used by local, provincial and federal governments to guide land use planning and decision making.
I look forward to applying the knowledge and practicable skills I’ve learnt into my career as an environmental consultant.
