User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
Background: I completed five transects each five meters apart. Each transect consisted of five 1m2 sampling areas alternating from left to right 1 meter apart. For a total of 25 sampled spots. My sampling unit was the presence of fomitopsis pinicula in a 1m2 area. I only found 4 of the fungi in my sampling area. They were all living on dead tree stumps. I think the presence of the fungi is very dependent on the location in the forest because it mostly grows on dead stumps. From my observations certain areas of the forest have very few stumps compared to other areas.
Difficulties: There were several problems I ran into:
- I used a measuring tape to measure out the distances which was time consuming and inaccurate at measuring the 1m2
- My study area is on a mountain which is difficult to walk up and down making the process arduous.
- I did not find very many samples of the fungi which I know can lead to statistical errors because of the low number of samples.
- The 1m2 was used because this is the most common unit I saw. I think because the fungi are not like grasses or other plants that can grow everywhere on the ground coverage this may not be an efficient unit to measure.
Modifications: I plan on making the following modifications:
- Increasing the transect size to cover more ground. I think increasing it from 5 meters to 10 or 20 meters. An increase in my unit from 1 m 2 may also help.
- Using a pre measured string to measure the areas to have more accuracy in the measurement.
The modifications would hopefully help me find more of the fungi and have more accurate measurements.
