User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I am planning on studying the relationship between ungulate presence and the abundance of certain vegetation types. There are 3 zones of interest that I will observe: 80 year old Second growth Douglas Fir plantation, Riparian zone, and 18 year old harvested area. When walking through these areas I have noticed an abundance of Cervus canadensis roosevelti sign in the riparian zone but none in the other areas, whereas I have noticed lots of Odocoileus hemionus columbianus sign in the harvested area but not as much in the forest and riparian zone. I have also observed a higher proportion of Vaccunium parvifolium and Gaultheria shallon in the forest than in either of the other two areas, whereas there is a higher abundance of Alnus rubra and other deciduous trees and shrubs in the riparian zone along with ground cover abundant in grasses. The harvested area is evenly covered in Vaccunium as well, but it seems to be less abundant than in the forest. Most of the ground cover in the harvested area at the moment is dead Pteridium aquilinum, but there are also new conifers as well as sparse large deciduous trees and shrubs.
Hypothesis: Cervus canadensis roosevelti sign is more abundant in areas with higher % cover of grasses and lower in areas with low % cover of grasses.
Prediction: Cervus canadensis roosevelti sign is more abundant in the Riparian zone where there is higher % cover of grasses and lower in the forest and harvested area where there is little to no grass cover.
Predictor variables: Riparian zone, Harvested area, Douglas Fir plantation (Categorical)
Response variables: % cover grasses (continuous), # of Cervus canadensis roosevelti scat groupings(Continuous)
Field Journal- scan0024
It will be interesting to see the progress of your study! Your hypothesis is falsifiable and I can see it evolve overtime with your first findings. I see that you established your response variable as the percentage of vegetation cover, however when you explain here that you observed various types of vegetation in each area, this could definitely be implemented in your study (as a predictor variable under each zone) as well to see if the type of vegetation affects ungulate preference for feeding and bedding.
While you are trying to figure out if the % of vegetation cover affects ungulate abundance, I wonder how will you determine abundance? Perhaps simply presence (with what type of ungulate signs) would work better for you? You could include additional signs of presence such as bedding area, twig breaks, tree rubs or tracks. So perhaps the response variable could be categorical for type of ungulate sign you have in each zone.
Good luck and I can’t wait to hear how it progresses!