User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
My field data collection activities have gone well. After initial difficulties wrapping my head around how to actually test my hypothesis, I came up with what I believe to be a feasible experimental design.
Over the course of three months, I surveyed five plots in my study area. I chose random days to collect data, based on snow fall. After a period of snowfall, I would survey all five plots as soon as it got light enough to see in the morning. I measured temperature upon arrival with a Kestrel pocket weather meter. A survey would consist of measuring snow depth at the plot, removing my snowshoes too make less of an impact in the plot, counting mule deer tracks on the established snowshoe trail present in plots #1-#4, measuring snow depth of the established trail, counting mule deer tracks in both primary and secondary trails, and measuring the snow depths of each trail encountered in a plot. Before leaving a plot, I would re walk the established trail wearing my snowshoes a few times to ensure it was re-compacted. I surveyed all five plots six times between January and April.
The hardest part was accurately counting mule deer tracks on the established trail, as I would often have to observe several 60cm long grids to accurately count the deer tracks. In the -20C weather, this was a bit tedious-feeling some mornings.
I tried to keep my design fairly simple, and once I had switched from transects to plots, I had no issues implementing my design. I did not notice a threshold depth at which deer completely ceased to use secondary trails, as per my hypothesis. I am, however, fairly confident that at some point snow depth would become too great for deer to travel select travelling outside of an established or primary trail. It is impossible to say though in my study, as snow depth never reached a depth at which secondary trail travel completely ceased.
