User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I plan to study the fomitopsis pinicola mushroom.
I selected 6 locations to look for the mushroom along an altitudinal gradient on my two visits to the study area. Location One is 64 meters above sea level. In location One I was able to find the mushroom on a dead log and near the roots of a living tree. The first location is located in a wooded area near a small stream. The second location is at 128 meters and is up the power line trail, I was not able to find the mushroom. The Third location is at 195 meters and is on a trail with trees and shrubs on both sides just off the power line trail, I was not able to find the mushroom. Location Four is at 205 meters and location 6 is at 258 meters. In locations Four and Five I was able to find the mushroom on two logs. Both location 4 and 5 are deep within the forest; however, they were right off a trail. Location Six is at 96 meters. Location Six is near the trail end but still in the forest I was not able to find the mushroom.
I think that the altitude of my study area does not affect the abundance of the mushroom. Based on this hypothesis I think that I can find the mushroom at any altitude of the study area. As this hypothesis is limited in that the Burnaby Mountain does not reach different Altitudinal Zones such as Subalpine I have created a second hypothesis. There is a positive relationship between the presence of dead logs in an area and the presence of the mushroom. Based on this hypothesis the more dead logs I find within an area the more I will find the mushroom.
The response variable is the presence of the mushroom. The explanatory variable is the dead logs the mushroom grows on. Both my response variable and my explanatory variable are categorical because the mushrooms are only found in very specific conditions such as on a living tree or dead log.
Great idea for a study! I’m curious to see which sampling methods you will use to collect data for the next blog post. It may be difficult to randomly sample if this species can only be found in specific areas. Perhaps you could collect the data for every _ number of mushrooms found?
Have you considered moisture as a variable for mushroom growth?These mushrooms can be found on living trees as well, which means that there may be another variable present that allows them to grow. Maybe there is a relationship between the trees they grow on (dead or alive) and the mushrooms; do they grow on smaller trees or only larger ones?
Otherwise, good luck with your project, it will be an interesting one!