Category: Post 9: Field Research Reflections

Prior to physically conducting my field research, I actually underestimated how tough it is to put study designs into actions. I assumed that everything would go as planned, and it would not be challenging, but I was proven wrong. This experience has enlightened me on how challenging it is to come up with a hypothesis and design an experiment in order to determine how accurate the hypothesis is. Although it took more time than I expected, I did not have much issues implementing my design. Prior to beginning my data collection, I thought carefully about the sampling strategy and method that would best suit my objective, and then I made sure that I was confortable actually carrying out the method. I had to familiarize myself with the study sites, and the numerous species found at each study site. One challenge that I faced was interpreting and making sense of my results. I found this challenging because I know that some of the methods that I used were somewhat subjective, therefore adding some bias to the results, and leaving me unsure of whether or not my results were appropriate/acceptable.

Upon completion of my study, if I were to make one change, it would be to collect data throughout different seasons. This will allow for a more accurate depiction of how species distribution is actually impacted by climate. Engaging in the practice of ecology has definitely altered my appreciation for how ecological theory is developed. Unlike other ecology courses that I have taken, this course really helped me understand the implementation of research projects and how it is conducted. I was able to learn so much information and retain that information as this final project allowed me to apply the skills that I learned throughout the course. After taking this course, I now realize how difficult it is to design and actually conduct a study. I definitely appreciate the work that individuals do in this field, as I felt it was challenging even to conduct a minor experiment on my own.

I found my data did not entirely support what I initially thought was going to happen. Although fruit quality was better on the plum tree, it did not produce as many plums as I thought a healthy tree would. I also had a hard time finding papers that related to my research in a way that would make sense.

After finishing my field research there are a few things I would change if I were to do it again. Firstly, I would make this research study longer, and instead of starting in the summer I would start to implement my procedure and data starting in the spring, as the blossoming period should also be considered in determining the results.

I think instead of using fruit trees, I would use tomato plants and start entirely from scratch, and plant the seeds myself, still using the same parameters and observing the final fruit quality and yield. That way, I would have control over all aspects of the study and my results would be very close to completely accurate.

If I were to use fruit trees, I would consider netting off the trees early, before fruit development, as birds and other animals were eating the fruit (the cherries seemed to be a fan favourite).

I would say doing this research has definitely changed my appreciation for how ecological theory is developed. To be honest I thought ecology was quite boring before I took the class, but actually engaging in a minor activity has really made me see how hard ecology is and how long and tedious a study can be. Some studies I read took at least a year to collect data! I couldn’t imagine doing my field research for that long. I appreciate the dedication and hard work ecologists put in to their process of developing an ecological theory, not always knowing answers and having to conduct studies to sometimes not get very far in research. It was a great course and I feel like I am slightly more knowledgeable now, and no longer think ecology is boring!

Working with insects without capturing them is a very hard thing to do. You not only have to count the individuals that appear to look the same but also need to be specific in characteristics that you write down as it makes it easier to identify actual species later on.

As I started the data collection, I realized that trying to count the insects just at the moment of visit is not enough. And the approach was switched to five continuous visits from site A to site B and then back. Mean values representing the day value appeared to give more consistent and believable results. When I started writing the report, I read many papers which tested exact hypothesis but used more precise techniques to obtain data. The effort it takes experts to obtain viable data set is enormous, most of studies evaluate up to 3000 individuals that are captured. The effects related to one cause have so many variables that it is almost impossible to conclude on something. This course has definitely increased my appreciation for a subject matter. Most of my university work was performed in the lab, but working in the field appears to me much harder because you basically have no control over the environment that effects the subject of your interest.

I hope this blog was somewhat interesting to read, and could warn someone who decides to perform similar study on the difficulties that he/she might face.

I did not encounter any major issues with the implementation of my design and also did not make any changes to my design while I was in the process of collecting data. However, if I were to repeat this experiment, I would change some aspects of my design.

When performing the statistical analysis for each set of data related to each alternative hypothesis, the results show no statistically significant difference for both cases. Therefore, my null hypothesis for my first analysis cannot be rejected and my hypothesis has to be rejected. For the second analysis, my null hypothesis can be rejected and my hypothesis can be accepted.

First analysis:

H0 = The number of birds of the genus Larus spp. present in the intertidal zone does not vary in function of the tide level.

H1 = The number of birds of the genus Larus spp. present in the intertidal zone varies in function of the tide level.

Second analysis:

H0: The number of birds of other genus present in the intertidal zone varies in function of the tide level.

H1: The number of birds of other genus present in the intertidal zone does not vary in function of the tide level.

Based on my field observations, I predicted that there would be a significantly higher number of gulls present in the intertidal zone at low tide than at high tide. I believe that I wasn’t able to reject my null hypothesis because my sample size was too small (F=3.6078 ˂ Fcrit 4.4139 ; p = 0.074 ˃ 0.05). My p-value was close to being lower than 0.05. Hence, if I were to repeat this experiment, I would collect data on at least 30 occasions at low tide and 30 occasions at high tide. Furthermore, there seem to be significantly less gulls in the intertidal zone at low tide in the morning than in the afternoon. I would therefore divide my data collection further into low tides occurring in the morning and low tides occurring in the afternoon. This would allow me to determine if the time of the day also influences the presence of gulls in the intertidal zone at low tide.

Designing this experiment has allowed me to appreciate how much effort is put into this process. I now better understand the complexity of experimental design. I am also aware that every detail needs to be carefully thought and that small mistakes make a significant difference in the outcome.

I was fortunate in that the implementation of my project went very well. I think that due to making a few visits to my location prior to beginning data collection I was able to design a feasible experiment and refine my methodology in order to prevent disappointment after my initial data collection.

As I begin to write up my paper, especially considering the limitations to my study, I have such a great appreciation for the thought process and time that has to go into ecological research and its experimental design. What I have really noticed is there are so many variables to consider, making it harder to fully trust your results, as there may be more at play than you are able to measure (given time and resources). However, even conducting a “simple” project, I can see the benefit my results could make to the field of ecology.