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As of February, 2020
For my field research project, I have decided to study plants from the phylum Bryophyta
While visiting Mount Tolmie, I definitely noticed the amount of rocky faces as well as the incline, which is steep at times. While hiking this incline, I noticed that the types of plants seemed to change with elevation, forming a transitional zone. I noticed especially that there was a great variety in the types of moss present in the area, and seemed to change with respect to the elevation on the mountain. With the help of iNaturalist.org, I identified the following species from the phylum bryophyta that I observed on Mt. Tolmie.
- Broom Moss (Dicranum scoparium)
- Wooly Fringe-moss (Racomitrium lanuginosum)
- Cat’s Tail Moss (Isothecium stoloniferum)
- Hedwigia ciliata
- Orthotrichum lyellii
I hypothesize that on Mt. Tolmie, the density and diversity of bryophytes will be affected by an increase in elevation. I predict that the density and diversity of bryophytes on Mt. Tolmie will decrease as the elevation increases, moving along the gradient. I think that this change in elevation will cause more exposure to the elements, in a more hostile environment I think there will be a decrease in temperature, increased wind speed/exposure, decreased humidity and decreased soil nutrients associated with this increase in elevation. So, I predict that there will be a decrease in the number of moss plants seen and the diversity of the moss plants as I ascend the mountain. I predict that there will be an abundance of mosses near the base of the mountain, and the top will have very sparse populations. This hypothesis will be evaluated by the effect of the elevation (predictor value) on the abundance of mosses in each quadrat I study (response variable). I plan to gather several sets of data on these two variables along the gradient, which I expect to present a trend in abundance with elevation. Because the response and predictor variables are both continuous, I will use a regression study for my experiment.
