Looking back on this research project it did not turn out exactly as I was hoping it would, but the experience of dealing with the complexity of implementing the research in this field did give me a large appreciation for all the effort that has to go into any study in the field of ecology. Lab work in general you get a fair share of hurdles to jump over but there’s so many confounding variables and factors to take into account when working in the field. I wish I’d had more of the tools I’ve read about for testing soil pH, like the onsite probes you can use in the field rather than having to make solutions and test it with a meter in the lab. That said having changed the ratio of the soil water solutions I was testing and sieving out the organic mater in the samples did at least allow me to collect reliable data where I was more sure about the readings being the true values, but if I’d had one of the probes I could have taken more samples.
Category: Post 9: Field Research Reflections
Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections
My field research was done at a local park every day for approximately a month. This was a large time commitment but made easier as I have to enter the park multiple times a day on my route to school or work. This part of the project was well planned out as it was convenient for me to frequent my sampling area as often as needed.
This project has shown me how time-consuming and how many more variables there seems to be in ecology research compared to the laboratory experiments that I am used to. Out in the field, it is very difficult to make controls like you can in the lab, therefore, it seems that many many more replicates need to be done to ensure accurate data.
I feel that my experiment worked well for the resources and time commitment I had available but if I was to have access to more I would design one in a rural setting where the results could have larger implications to ecological topics. This would have been a far too large and engaging experiment for a few short weeks though.
Blog Post 9
Ideally, it would have been better to conduct this research in the summertime because there are additional factors of emerald ash borer infestation in trees (eg. epicormic shoots, canopy dieback) that I could have noticed. Collecting more data from more plots would have also improved the level of certainty of my data. In hindsight, I did not know that the first signs of emerald ash borer infection (D-shaped exit holes) occur 2 years after infestation, so as much as I could have improved my methods there still would be a degree of inaccuracy in assessing the health of these trees due to the time lag. However, this did not discourage me. I was on the right track with this study by examining as many factors as I could in terms of infestation and learning that the age of a tree also indicates whether it will be infected (saplings were not infected). Despite my results being inconclusive it made me realize this project would have benefitted being conducted in a controlled setting. By planting ash trees in various plots at the same time you could eliminate age as a confounding variable. One could either wait and see what plots get infected first by EAB or you could introduce the same concentration of EAB larva in a plot and see how it propagates over time. A study like this would take longer and be more costly however, it would help draw better conclusions on how EAB develops and its effects on ash trees. This understanding would give land managers or conservation authorities a better time scale of how harmed they can expect infested woodlots to become. This is important because it gives them the opportunity to assess whether they wish to take cautionary measures to prevent the spread of EAB (eg. insecticide use) or if treatment options are not worth the cost.
Engaging in the process of ecology has made me realize the importance of the study design. By having a good plan for your research project before you go out to the field, you save yourself ample time and it progressively makes your data more accurate. For instance, when I first arrived at my site to record data, it occurred to me that I had no way of ensuring I would not double count trees. So I had to return home and bring along some chalk so I could mark trees.
Post 9: Field Research Reflections
Overall, I think the field research was great experience that allowed me to fully understand how many steps and details are required in order to conduct a good research project. I had no issues with the implementation of my design since I kept it simple yet efficient to gather the necessary information I required for my hypothesis. I think next time I would do more sites to gather more information because it would provide more evidence to either support or deny my hypothesis, whereas data from 4 sites isn’t sufficient enough. Engaging in the practice of ecology altered my appreciated for how ecological theory is developed because I realized how difficult it is to study nature since it is so ever-changing and to get the best results you can you have to think creatively to form an efficient, yet effective, way of conducting and analyzing your research.
Post 9: Field Research Reflections
This was my first experience collecting ecological data for a study, I found it to be enjoyable but difficult. I found it difficult to decide on a research topic because there were so many options to choose from at my location! I believe I followed by experimental design pretty well, however, I did make a few changes throughout the course of my field research:
- During initial data collection I recorded which quadrant (NW, NE, SW, SE) each tree was present, I found that this was immensely time consuming and the exact quadrant location of each tree was not of importance to this study
- Elimination of Alnus rubra – My reconnaissance of the study area I realized I only observed two juvenile Alnus rubra trees, and decided that I would choose sample points which lacked these two trees. I chose to do so because it would create empty data which had no significance to this study
- After my data collection, I decided to rank the exposure levels of each area rather than referring to them as ‘protected’ or ‘direct’. I allocated a level number of 1 to the most protected areas and 6 to the most direct.
Implementing an experimental design in the context of ecology was extremely eye opening. I discovered that there are several steps to follow for accurately formulating a successful study.
Post 9: Field Research
Overall, my experience in designing and carrying out a field experiment was very eye opening. This was my first time completing research of this length. I had a few challenges along the way and learned a lot about what it takes to be successful in a study like this. Firstly, I struggled with time management. This being my first online course, it was hard to stay on top of things when there were no weekly deadlines. Additionally, I realize now that I did not put enough time into the initial planning of my field study. I had the general idea of what I wanted to do, however, there were details like where to sample, putting enough information in my field journal and even my initial hypothesis that I did not plan enough. It would have saved me time overall if I spent a bit of extra time planning in the beginning before actually going out and collecting samples. Considering the amount of planning, testing and time that went into my relatively small field assignment, my appreciation for the ecological theory and the ecologists who do research has definitely increased.
Post 9: Field Research Reflections
I was lucky in that I got to explore not only a foreign (read interesting) environment, but that the sparse vegetation and flat land made my job quite easy. I did not have to change much of my design other than that I was a bit ambitious initially. I had planned to measure substrate densities and root moisture as well in the beginning. Perhaps, by myself the scope of my experiment was a bit ambitious. I am happy that I could refine it into a product that I am proud of!
Engaging in my own field research is a first for me in my years of education. Ecology was initially a subject I had little interest in despite my background in Biology. Through the process, I began to contemplate not only origins of life but how to care for and preserve it. This course also taught me that ecology was not simply a science of preservation, but also in very detailed relationships between organic and non-organic processes. The complicated relationships between species and their environment, rivals and abiotic factors reminds me of physics and how everything affects each other.
By going out into the desert, I also learned the field ecologists have quite a difficult job. The concentration it takes to sample while exposed to the elements could be draining and frustrating at times. My appreciation of the dedication to ecological theory has increased by leaps and bounds.
Thank-you for a wonderful class,
Darren Hildebrand
Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections
First of all, I would like to say that I enjoyed conducting my field research and that I feel it has been a valuable tool in my understanding of how ecological theory is developed. There are so many factors to consider when developing and implementing sound, scientific research and so yes, I have certainly developed a greater appreciation for the hard work and knowledge that is required.
I have to admit that I struggled in the beginning to even generate a feasible topic. Observing patterns in nature was not something that came readily to me, and I realized quickly that it was a skill I needed to develop. Once I had a topic and a general method, I had initially planned to randomly select my point count locations by overlaying a grid system onto the park map. This did not work as the randomly selected locations I had chosen on paper did not provide the best vantage points in he field and caused unnecessary disturbance to the ducks within the drainage channels. I also had assumed that diurnal sampling, particularly during the early morning hours would be best suited, as it is well known that bird activity is greatest during the morning hours. I quickly discovered that this was indeed the case for passerines, however, the dabbling ducks were much slower to wake. I conducted a couple of trial sampling events in the hours before dusk and this seemed to be when the ducks were most active.
My study area posed several challenges for me as well, as public access was limited to the upper dike areas. This made visibility slightly more challenging, and it was unlike a forest setting where you can potentially access more areas for data collection. Perhaps with permission from parks staff, I could have measured other aspects within the drainage ditches, including water quality and or depth to see if these influenced duck abundance. Once I had decided on my experimental design, the actual data collection was quite simple. I incorporated randomization into my study by using a random number generator to decide the order in which I visited my selected sample locations.
If I had the chance to conduct the research over again, I would have conducted my sampling during the fall months when overwintering waterfowl are typically more prevalent within the park. This potentially would have given me a greater sample size to work with when analyzing my data, as overall duck abundance at all point count locations was lower than I had expected.
Blog Post 9
Conducting the field experiment was challenging, but mostly due to labour, otherwise it was fairly uncomplicated. The point centred quarter sampling method was very efficient and I think it produced accurate results since it takes that average distances from four quadrants rather than the distance from one point. If I were to conduct this field experiment again, I would use more than 5 samples for each elevation gradient because accuracy increases with elevation. Engaging in the practice of ecology did alter my appreciation for how ecological theory is developed because it involves studying nature and things that cannot be easily controlled by humans so it involves thinking of different ways to test data and then deciding which one is the most accurate.
Blog post 9
Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections
Create a final blog post that reflects on your field research. You both designed a field experiment and then carried it out. Did you have any issues with the implementation or have to make any changes to your design? Has engaging in the practice of ecology altered your appreciation for how ecological theory is developed?
Carrying out the field project from design to implementation was a fairly uncomplicated process. The POC technique that I used is a well studied and easy to follow strategy for quantifying vegetation for a large area of land. Next field project I think that I would gather more samples for the data to be more representative of the population. I also would have liked to apply a few more statistical values to show proper comparisons of two separate populations. The steep learning curve for me came in writing the report. The process of figuring out excel and learning the language of ecology and then trying to apply it to my research took a lot of brain power. It made me realize how important it is for learning to have a community of like-minded individuals around to bounce ideas off of and troubleshoot problems one may be having. Learning how to implement a design and write a report was eye-opening and hopefully rewarding ( we will see how the grading process goes) but I feel my appreciation for the practice of ecology would have been more conducive if there was an easy to access community to communicate with.
