Post 5: Design Reflections

I collected my initial data on May 20th, 2021 around 1:15pm. I decided on using quadrats along transects for my study. I brought with me a pre-measured 36m string, four 4m strings, and a soil moisture meter. There is a trail that goes along the top of the bank, which is where I chose to place the transect. I used a random number generator to choose the number of footsteps I would take from the entrance of the trail and placed the 36m string there, along the top of the bank. I placed my quadrats along the transect about 4m from each other and collected my data. I used the soil moisture meter directly in the centre of the quadrat to measure how moist the soil was and then I counted how many ferns were in that quadrat. In order for a fern to be counted, more than 50% of its total size had to be within the quadrat.

One of the struggles I had was that the bank was quite steep at some parts which made it difficult to place the quadrats safely. I was afraid I would slip and hurt myself. I think I might bring somebody with me to help me navigate the terrain safely next time. I also realized later that I should have made sure that the soil moisture meter was inserted into the soil at the same depth in every quadrat in order to reduce any inaccuracies in the moisture readings. I will mark the meter with a Sharpie next time and make sure I push the meter up to that point during each of the readings. Overall, I was quite happy with my study design as it is not overly difficult for me to conduct and is very interesting.

I did realize I will have to revise my predictions about my hypothesis. I had originally predicted that as soil moisture increases, fern abundance would decrease. However, after also choosing a quadrat by the creek that had a lower soil moisture level and observing a lower number of ferns, I will now predict that as soil moisture increases, fern abundance also increases.