Post 9: Field Research Reflections

My study design remained quite consistent throughout the course of the research project. My understanding of experimental design, however, did develop substantially. Early on I decided that i would divide my sample plots into elevation zones that correlated with the environmental gradient, which I hypothesised would respond to elevation from the lake shore. In doing so, I realised the purpose and importance of subplots in field experiments, as they allowed me to accurately analyse data from the seperate sample plots — by comparing data sampled from the same elevation zones in the different plots. As my hypothesis developed I also became aware of the influence of substrate on my response variable (species composition), which would make it difficult to determine the extent to which my predictor variable (elevation/flood frequency) affected it. However, as my research progressed I realised that that substrate is also very much influenced by flood frequency, and thus is closely tied to my predictor variable. For this reason I included substrate descriptions in my sampling, and took it into consideration in my analysis of the results.