User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
1.With switching locations, I’ve really had to brainstorm what I could study at this location. I’m quite interested in birds, but also vegetation. Upon observing this location, I found it interesting how the vegetation differs on one either side of the raise footpath considered the dyke, and the sides of the dyke. I’ve scanned some images below to highlight how the growth differs on each side.
2. That being said, I chose three parts of the dyke. The first is along the water with the left slant of the hill, the top of the dyke pathway, and the right slant of the hill along the farm border. From the water to the farm border is about 15 meters with 5 meters in between each spot.
3. Besides the different proximities to the water, I observed that the soil seems to be a little different. Particularly on the bramble side (left side) it was quite rocky with less concentration of dirt. Perhaps this is why grass does not prosper along that side? I also observed that around 14:10-14:48 in the afternoon, the sun does not shine on the left side. In fact, it was quite cool without the direct sunlight. When you compare plot A to plot B, the sun is direct, there seems to be a saturation of water in the soil (there was mud present). Plot C also seemed to have some saturation in the soil (a little soft), but not as much as plot B. Surprisingly, because plot A is along the water, although on the hill, there was not a lot of water present. Is this because the water directly runs off the hill and into the water?
I’d like to explore a hypothesis about the soil composition and how it supports the type of vegetation that grows on each plot as well as the amount of exposure of sun throughout the day on B and C.
My formal prediction: The soil composition along the dyke determines the variety of vegetation that successfully grows in each plot.
4. The response variable for this hypothesis would be the vegetation and it would be a continuous variable. The explanatory variables will be the soil composition and amount of saturation that contributes to the soil composition. This will be a categorial variable. I will use a one-way ANOVA experimental design for this study.
Your response variable and is not exactly clear; are you investigating the diversity of any vegetation that’s present or a specific subset?
I like your idea of investigating soil composition, have you considered analyzing any factors other than saturation? permeability, grain size, and organics content may be intriguing variables. You might also consider investigating the water source and what conditions that side of the dyke might experience – dykes are typically constructed to hold back freshet, and may experience fluctuating water levels/disturbance. Depending on the degree of construction, specific materials/vegetation to promote bank stability might have been used. Something to keep in mind of when you are comparing soil compositions.