Category: Post 9: Field Research Reflections

Post 9: Field Research

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Overall, my field research went fairly smoothly, and I was able to draw conclusions about insect abundance and insect species richness in three sites along an environmental gradient. The only major change I had to make to my experimental design was to use insect traps with stickier adhesive than originally used, as I was not confident that all insects crossing the trap were being effectively trapped there. Other than this minor complication, I believe I was able to design and implement an effective and scientifically sound experiment.

 

The project itself did, in fact, increase my appreciation for the complex, intricate, and sophisticated manner in which ecological studies are conducted. Being a BSc student with a major in cellular, molecular, and microbiology, I was admittedly unappreciative of the work that goes into ecology research and the importance of conducting these studies for conservation and preservation purposes.

Blog Post 9

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I think the difficulty in designing the study for this field research project is that I performed the intensive literature review occurs following the completion of the study. I found results in the literature that would have been useful in designing my study. For example, I found a study that showed that fern density decreased closer to a river. It would have therefore been interesting to compare fern density as the distance from the creek increased. The way the study was designed, I was unable to separate the effects of low canopy cover and the presence of water on the variables measured. It would have been good to have been able to identify additional sites with low canopy cover and no water, and high canopy cover and water and measure fern growth at these sites. Following the completion of this study, I have a far greater appreciation of collecting ecological data and the importance of randomization. It would have been much easier for me to identify an area with lots of ferns and just measure the ferns that looked big and healthy which would have biased results. Instead, I had to set up a method to randomly select ferns to measure, and as a result, there was far greater variation in the data collected, but I feel it represents an unbiased sampling of the population. Like the study of any science, bias is very difficult to avoid, especially when you are “looking” for a specific result, so the sampling techniques are so important in generating credible data.

Blog 9 Field Research Reflections

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My field study into the cone gathering potentials of an urban red squirrel were very interesting.  I had no idea there already were an immense amount of scholarly articles on this topic as well as many more articles on other variables concerning the Red squirrel.  What I discovered was that the more I uncovered, the more information and avenues there were to follow.  I think this is what makes Ecology such an interesting field of study, the potential for discovery is endless.

As far as my field study went, I found I really had to think about what my response and my predictor variables were and how to apply them to my study.  I think more practice and more use of ecological tools would help in discerning what avenues to take. But again, this just reiterates the amount of work that needs to be done before even doing the actual practical side of the field study.

This course has been an eye opener into the world of ecology.  There is so much more involved than initially observing something.  It takes keen observation to detail and unbiased thinking to report what is happening in the natural world.  I found myself revising and revising time and time again until the clarity of my objective could be seen.  And even when my objective was pinpointed, I still had a hard time focusing on just one goal when so many more fascinating aspects unveiled themselves.

I wish more of these type of courses become available to students.  Even a continuation of this course with more mathematical statistic methods would be appreciated.  I believe in this day and age of financial cutbacks, a time will come when citiᴢen scientists will be an important part of future ecology if not the beginning of stewardship programs in conservation of a species.

On ending, the Western Painted Turtle is Red listed on the pacific coast and Blue listed in the intᴢerior of BC.  Red: jeopardy of losing the population Blue:  species of Concern      Urbaniᴢation and encroachment of populations on wetlands and pond habitats have fragmented the natural ecosystems of the turtle.  Barriers such as highways, agricultural fields, dams, have caused pockets of isolation and increased risk of inbreeding (weakening the gene pool), decimation of nesting grounds (sand) by hikers, atv’s, trails, livestock…..invasive species such as knapweed who’s roots can grow through a turtle egg as it incubates in the ground…climate warming and shrinking streams and habitat areas…long sexual maturity males 8 years, females 10-12 years…loss of eggs in the winter again through climate change (low snowfall and freeᴢing conditions that effectively freeᴢe and kill the egg)…and what I believe is happening on my Kootenay River: constant dropping of water levels in January (BC Hydro canals and dams that send electricity to the US ) and which, exposes the mud where the turtles are hibernating and effectively killing them with winter freeᴢing…The US and Canada have the Columbia Basin Trust Treaty whereby Canadians benefit from the dam control to the US (flooding control) by the profits of electricity sales to the US…Communities receive grant funds for improvement to their communities re: porch steps for their hall, a new oven or fridge, an outhouse…communities that have been here for under 100 years while the Western Painted Turtle, a native of these waterways in BC since the last Ice Age, receives nothing.

In closing, please support Western Painted Turtle Conservation.

Field Research Reflections (#9)

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This project was a real challenge for me. I had a very limited window of time between when the ice and snow melted in Whitehorse and when I moved down south, in which I had to make observations, come up with an idea, and gather data. After I had moved I discovered that my sample size was probably too small, but by that time it was too late to gather more samples and I had to make due with what I had recorded.

I made numerous changes to almost every component of my study as I was conducting it. I revised the organism I intended to study, my study site, my sampling methods, my graph layouts, etc. With each revision there was something to be learned, ranging from the need for specificity in order to frame an experiment, to how to convey information most effectively through tables and graphs. I particularly enjoyed my time learning to use Excel, which seems like an extremely powerful program with many applications. I also enjoyed making observations and collecting samples in a beautiful setting. Engaging with living systems as such is a joy.

In future studies, I will take more time to research the species and ecologies relevant to my organism. This will enable me to determine how to go about collecting samples and how many samples to collect. This would also help ensure that I’ve not built a hypothesis or experimental methods on falsehoods.

The process of developing ecological theory now strikes me as a painstaking and labor intensive effort. The sheer volume of data necessary to track certain ecological trends, especially over timescales relevant to long-lived organisms, is daunting. Reading through sections of Clement’s book, I was struck by the life-long dedication required to acquire enough theoretical knowledge and personal observations to bring certain ideas to fruition. In attempting to come up with a hypothesis, I found myself hampered by how little I knew about my local ecosystem. I now appreciate that a prerequisite to insightful questions is often having a relationship with the living systems you’re observing. Conducting this study has been a very informative experience in ways that go well beyond the content of the project itself.

Final Blog Post: Reflection

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This was my first time designing and performing my own field experiment. I did experience some issues with implementation. First of all, I was unsure whether I would have enough sample units to collect.  However, I was able to find enough rose bushes to sample when I extended the study area.  The quadrat sampling method proved to be more difficult for measuring samples on bushes, because the surface is not flat like the ground.  I had to re-define the sample area in order to make each sample collection the same.

 

Engaging in the practice of ecology has definitely changed my perspective on the development of ecology theory.  I find myself noticing more patterns within the environment, and designing mini experiments in my head on how I would attempt to explain such patterns.  It has also opened my eyes to just how complicated, intertwined and sophisticated natural ecosystems are.

Blog 9: Field Research

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I very much enjoyed coming up with an experiment and then conducting it by myself. It was very challenging to come up with an idea since when I first started this class there was very heaving snow fall occurring so it was hard to really explore somewhere to find something that was interesting for me to want to further investigate.

It was challenging to set up the experiment where I had to make some modifications when mapping out the experiment guide lines so that it fit the rule of 10 and also limiting down on what I was wanting to examine since at first my idea was too broad. However, once  I had a clear outline for my experiment I had no troubles collecting data and was not too difficult interpreting the data.

By doing this experiment I have learn how much dedication and time is need when conducting ecological experiments where even for my experiment more data is needed to be collected over a larger time period to determine exactly what weather condition effects moss richness and if it changes during different seasons of the years. Where this also shows just how interconnected everything is in the environment and how ecology theories are important in understand some of these relationships found in nature.

Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections

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I found the process of carrying out this research project to be quite interesting and educational.  My single biggest challenge was coming up with a topic as there are so many interesting things to study!  My next biggest challenge was taking the theory of an experimental design and actually implementing it in the field.  I ended up changing my overall design a couple of times.  For those not following my research project, I had looked at the differences in the frequency of occurrence and cover of species of moss on different slope positions of rock outcrops.

I had originally thought that I would use separate rock outcrops as the replicates, but I only found 4 outcrops in the area that had similar enough attributes to be compared as replicates, which did not meet the rule of 10.  I therefore ended up collecting 10 samples in each slope position from among the different rock outcrops to serve as the replicates.

I had also originally intended to use a transect along which to locate evenly spaced plots within each rock outcrop, but I found that this restricted my sample locations too much given the variation in the orientation of the slope positions and it did not enable me to collect enough samples in the narrower slope positions (particularly the crests).  I therefore switched to a strategic randomized selection in which I sampled an equal number of randomly selected plot locations within each slope position, in order to get a sufficient sample size from each slope position.

This process certainly gave me an appreciation of the complexity of implementing ecological experiments, particularly in a field setting, where it is sometimes difficult (e.g. costly or time-consuming), if not impossible (e.g. conditions have changed or species have moved on), to repeat any data collection.  It is also very difficult to control for external environmental variables, which can interact with one another and vary across even small distances.

 

 

Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections

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To summarize my experiment, I took samples of Achillea millefolium around the interior of British Columbia at different elevations and counted their flowers to see if there seemed to be a relationship between elevation and fitness. I completely changed my study goals when a brutal winter hit Merritt and the bunchgrass I was investigating was literally frozen solid.

To be tactful, my research was not well thought out. To be blunt, my research was garbage. I started with two sites in Chilliwack, 170 km from my home, then took samples at three sites in the Thompson-Okanagan, much closer to home, once the snow had melted enough. This may not have been a great idea, simply because there are significant differences in climate and plant life in those areas that I was not equipped to control. Were I to repeat this experiment, I would stick to one biogeoclimatic zone.

As I read through the literature related to my plant, I realized that I did not account for numerous confounding factors in my design. The best I could do by that point was point out the glaring flaws in my design in the final paper, as I am in no position to go traipsing through the snow again to recollect all of my data. I also figured out that I really need to brush up on statistics (it’s been a few years for me, and I am certain that I made errors in interpreting my results).

I will say that I found the initial field observations highly enjoyable. As a computer scientist, I have had almost no exposure to ecology or field techniques, but it was a wonderful experience to take control of my own learning and pay attention to the fine details of my local natural community.

Overall, the entire process was a valuable learning experience. Even if my design was not a complete success, I was able to identify where there existed weaknesses by looking at others’ experimental designs with a critical eye.

Blog post 9

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My field research project on Sagebrush definitely increased my appreciation for the ecological importance of this ecosystem I’ve been taking for granted. Kamloops is full of dry, brownish hills in the summer that can be mistaken for drab. When you look closer, you see an amazing amount of diversity and persistence through incredibly difficult growing conditions. Late last summer we didn’t receive any precipitation for over a month. However, these huge bushes sustain themselves and then flower at the beginning of fall. It’s amazing.

I had to make changes when I was carrying out the study, including changing the sampling method from quadrats to linear transects. This made the data collection a lot simpler. In terms of the redoing the study, I would do it a lot differently next time. I would sample at a different time of year and include more transects at different places in the creek. I would also obtain a degree of incline along the hillsides to have more control over extraneous variables like flat spots. I think, ultimately, it would be nice to have had more measures to help control aspects of my study.

Ecological theory development is way more complex than I originally thought. There are so many variables that interact to create what we see around us. This semester I had the opportunity to do another project on the human microbiome and I found the ecology of this system to be fascinating. By designing my own study with the brush bushes and doing research on the topic, I gained a better understanding all of the variables impacting what had once seemed to be a simple question of depth to water.

Blog post 9: Field Research Reflections

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April 1st, 2018

Performing a successful field research project in the fall/winter time in Canada was a challenging task. My decision to perform my experiment indoors proved to be extremely difficult in meeting some of the requirements of this course. Elements such as creating a gradient from which to observe and record changes in my study was impossible as my experiment was performed in potted soil in a greenhouse. I certainly learned a lot about improvising and overcoming obstacles when growing my plants.

 

The biggest challenges I faced were time constraints as I have been dealing with medical issues, moving to a new country, and being a full-time university student in addition to completing this course. Due to these obstacles I did not make any major changes to my experimental design. That being said, I felt as though I did not have to make any changes because my design was relatively simple and straightforward. There was literature that both supported and did not support my hypothesis, so I was not overly worried about the outcome. Additionally, my passion is for geology and so I found it somewhat difficult to completely immerse myself in the world of ecology – but I’m thankful that I did.

 

My appreciation for ecological theory has certainly skyrocketed as I realize how much time, effort and practice it takes to create a “successful” experiment. Especially in researching the scientific articles for the annotated bibliography I have realized the passion people must have for ecology to perform experiments. Clarity of design and writing is such an essential element of research that I realized I need to improve greatly if I was to perform another ecological experiment. I certainly did learn a lot about crop production and the competition between crop and weed species.

 

Thanks for your wisdom and guidance throughout the course, Percy!