User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I have decided to study vegetation abundance with increasing distance from the creek.
- Cows Parsnip (Heracleum umbellifers)
- Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis)
- tufted vetch (Vicia cracca)
- White Clover (Trifolium repens)
- grasses
I choose four spots along the creek to observe the plants growing there and noticed that wherever the Cows Parsnip was growing, no other plants (besides grass) were growing. The other wildflowers grew everywhere on top of the creek bank, but not near the water. The Cows Parsnip seemed to grow closer to the creek and in damper areas. They also grew more in the shade, while the other wildflowers appeared to grow where there was more sun.
- Near Greenhouse.
The wildflowers only grew on the banks of the creeks. The banks here are very steep and the only organism growing near the water is grass. Wildflowers are covering the field next to the walking trail.
2. Near Library.
I stopped seeing the other wildflowers when the Cows Parsnip begins to show up. There is a group of approximately 20 of them in this area. They are in the tall, damp grass and under the shade of the tress. The banks are more shallow here so the other wildflowers are growing closer to the creek.
3. Kin Park Bridge.
The Cows Parsnip are flourishing on the shallow decline to the creek. They are about 2-3 meters from the water. The closer they get to the creek, the larger and more green they are. The other wildflowers stop near the top of the bank.
4. Across from baseball diamond.
There are tons of Cows Parsnip growing here. There are no other wildflowers here. The Parsnip appears to be greener and have whiter flowers closer to the creek.
It seems as if Cows Parnsip is better suited to survive harsher condition than the other wildflowers. They continue to thrive without sunshine and in very damp areas.
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is that proximity to the creek will effect the variety of plant life growing in the area.
Prediction:
I predict that the Cows Parsnip will survive closer to the creek due to it being more resiliant to harsh conditions, whereas the vegetation that need more specific conditions (sunlight and water) to survive will not. I predict that the as distance from the creek increases, the variety of plantlife will also increase.
A possible response variable is the presence/absence of the types of vegetation (categorical) and a possible explanatory variable is their distance from the creek/shade of trees (continuous).
Scan of field journal:
This study seems very interesting, looks like a nice study area. I like how you have compared the growth of different vegetation in the 4 regions. In terms of your hypothesis, could you be more clear about what you mean about the variety of plant life in the area? I can think of the five plants you stated at the beginning of this post. And for the response variable, what particular types of vegetation are you looking to be present to absent? Would it be the Cows Parsnip? I hope you will find my feedback helpful! All the best with this study.
Thanks for the feedback!