User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
I returned to the Dufferin Park Wetlands on May 13, 2021 at approximately 16:40 hours, and decided to sketch a map (attached) to assist with further observations. I must note that the majority of the vegetation in this area is still in the process of recovering from the winter season.
On my way over to the wetlands, I noticed a “trough” that paralleled the sidewalk and tennis courts which featured some of the same vegetation that had I originally noted in my first blog post. I also made note of the two circular canal areas near the information/shade hut as they featured many similarities in vegetation to the wetlands, but to a greater degree than the “trough” noted earlier. Furthermore, during my observations, I noticed that only one bird attended the “trough” area and that two species of birds attended the circular canals.
These observations lead me to thinking that the diversity in wetland vegetation between these sites may have an affect on the diversity of bird species that interact with them. In short, I was lead to the following hypothesis and prediction:
- A greater degree of biodiversity in wetland vegetation will lead to a greater degree of biodiversity in bird species that will interact with the vegetation.
- I predict that more birds will attend areas that have more biodiverse vegetation more often than areas with less biodiversity.
The predictor variable in this case would be the number of plant species in a given area, and the response variable would be the number of birds that interact with the vegetation. I believe that the predictor variable will be continuous, but this may change as the vegetation develops over the spring and summer seasons. As such, this variable may change marginally (which remains to be seen) and may in fact become a categorical variable in time. The response variable in this case is categorical, so I believe that this will be either a logistic regression or tabular experiment.
I plan to use sections of the main wetlands area, the circular canals, and “trough” as there is a clear gradient in the biodiversity of plants between these areas.
Nice map of your study area. The challenge I find with your study design is that the two areas are quite different in size which will confound your results. One is a fully formed wetland and one is a small marshy area so I would expect you will get more birds at one over the other due to the difference in size alone and I’m not sure how you will be able to control for this and say your results are due to plant diversity.
If the response variable is the number of birds, how is that categorical? You will have to think about how you measure the number of birds – point counts?
I think you may need to think through your hypothesis a little more before moving onto sampling. Since you are interested in birds, the first question set in Module 4 may help you as the paper is on birds and disturbance.