Category: Nancy Elliot

Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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On my shelf sits a book titled Environmental Science and Theology in Dialogue written by Russell A. Butkus and Steven A. Kolmes, two professors of the University of Portland, as part of a series titled “Theology in Dialogue.” This book is used as a textbook for classes at the University of Portland, and combined human ecology and theology to teach students to examine the impact they have on the world through a theological lens. Dr. Butkus is an environmental theologian, while Dr. Kolmes serves as the Environmental Studies Department chair, and has served on many governmental advisory committees, all that to say that both are experts in the field. The book includes footnotes and citations all cited at the end, and was reviewed by Anne Clifford. Given these facts and the book’s lack of lab or field study, I conclude that this source of information is classified as Academic, peer-reviewed review material, as outlined in the Tutorial on Evaluating Sources of Scientific Information.

Citation:

Butkus, R. A., & Kolmes, S. A. (2011). Environmental science and theology in dialogue. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Blog Post 8 – Tables and Graphs

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Blog Post 8 – 19/03/20

Overall the organization of my table went smoothly. There were some initial mistakes made as I tried to correctly tabulate the data; however, I proofread my table and worked hard to ensure that I correctly calculated all the values necessary to complete the information in the table. Aside from the initial minor calculation problems, the organization, aggregation, and summary of my data went well and there were no further difficulties. The outcomes from arranging this table were slightly unexpected. Early on in my data collection I had noticed that white birch  trees were found in higher amounts closer to the central pond. This was confirmed in the table and white birch had the highest distribution in pond land. Surprisingly, white spruce had an relatively even distribution over both central park land and edge land. This was an unexpected result and I will have to look into research previously done that examines the growth abilities of white spruce in a variety of soil conditions. The anticipated result of the experiment was confirmed in the aspen poplar species which had the highest distribution in central park land. This unexpected information from both white birch and white spruce species confirms that I need to study literature investigating ideal soil moisture conditions for growth of both of these trees before discussing my results in my final report.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Blog Post 4: Sampling Strategies

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In the virtual forest tutorial, I chose all area-based methods. The fastest sampling time was when using the systematic technique. It took an estimated time to sample of 12 hours and 4 minutes, compared to 12 hours 42 minutes for the randomized, and 12 hours 27 minutes for haphazard.

The most common species was the eastern hemlock. Below are my calculations for percentage error of this species.

Systematic: PE (495.8-469.9)/469.9*100=5.5%        Most accurate

Random: PE (680.8-469.9)/469.9*100=44.9%

Haphazard: PE (704.2-469.9)/469.9*100=49.9%

The least common species was the white pine. Below are my calculations for PE of this species.

Systematic: PE (8.3-8.4)/8.4*100=1.2%              Most accurate

Random: PE (8.3-8.4)/8.4*100=1.2%                  Most accurate

Haphazard: PE (4.2-8.4)/8.4*100=50%

It seems that calculating rare species is more accurate, but only when using random or systematic sampling. Haphazard sampling was not accurate in either species. For abundant species, systematic seems to be the only accurate sampling method.

The actual data compared to the estimated data left significant percentage errors in most cases for all species in the middle. Data was most accurate at the top and bottom, or most common and least common. I suggest more than 24 data samples would be needed to eliminate this.

 

 

Blog Post 7 – Theoretical Perspectives

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Blog Post 7 – 23/02/20

There are several ecological processes that underpin my research project. My project is primarily focused on the distribution and abundance of common trees in relation to soil moisture; however, there are many other factors that may contribute to this topic. Such factors include nutrient soil temperature and pH, availability of nutrients, as well as permafrost cycles and species climatic resistance. All of these factors can be seen as ecological processes that impact the research I am doing. Fluctuations in soil temperature and pH, while not explicitly measured in my experiment, are conditions that impact the quality of the soil and may explain, in addition to soil moisture, why trees are not found in bare stretches of the bark and conversely, why they are found in such high quantities in other locations. Along with those two factors, the nutrient cycles of various locations in the park surely must also have some impact on the presence or absence of trees in those areas. Numerous nutrient cycles and exchanges are constantly occurring regularly in the park. Seasonal changes to such cycles in the early lives of the trees may have influenced their growth potential. Permafrost cycles are another ecological process that likely impacted the growth potential of the trees as well as their abundance and distribution. It should also be noted that the climatic resistance of the different species likely impacted their growth in certain areas over others. I believe that three keywords that could be used to describe my research project are park sampling, soil moisture content, and tree distribution. Three other keywords could simply be the common names of the trees I am studying, those being white spruce, aspen poplar, and white birch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Blog Post 6 – Data Collection

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Blog Post 6 – 16/02/20

Field collection went well today. I went out to collect data at 1700 hours. The skies were clear and the temperature was mild, a few degrees above zero. There was a slight wind and some mild snow cover, but otherwise there were no issues with collecting my data. Today I surveyed the location of the trees within the randomly selected sample locations. The tree sampling went well and there were no issues with implementing the stratified random sampling design. Firstly, I divided the areas into the three strata of pond land, central park land, and edge land. 15 transects were then randomly selected with 5 quadrats per transect. Transect amounts reflected the percentage covered by each strata namely 8 transects for central park land, 4 transects for edge land, and 3 transects for pond land. I then marked each quadrat with an “X” to indicate the presence or absence of each of the three tree species, white spruce (Picea glauca), aspen poplar (Populus tremuloides), and white birch (Betula papyrufera). Upon collecting this data I noticed that there was a surprisingly high amount of white birch trees in the pond land transects, which was unexpected and caused me to reflect upon my hypothesis. I am now wondering if the white birch (B. papyrufera) tree species requires a higher soil moisture level to survive. However, a substantial amount of white birch was also found in the central park and edge land transects, therefore it is possible that the which birch thrives in all soil types. I will do some research on the growing conditions for white birch and use the information to reflect upon my findings. For this data collection I also sampled three replicates from each of the three strata to determine the soil moisture content. As expected, there were higher levels of moisture in pond land soil than anywhere else in the park, while edge land soil had the lowest levels of moisture. In essence, the moisture sampling also went very well despite the light snow cover and overall the data collection went very well today. 

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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I chose the paper “Explanations of Intertidal diversity at regional scales” by Mark A. Zacharias and John C. Roff. This is an academic, peer-reviewed research article published in the journal of biogeography. I came to this conclusion after reviewing the paper and seeing that it had a bibliography and in text citations, as well as anonymous referees acknowledged. This paper also contained a methods and results section that details the research done. 

The paper can be read from the link below: 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00559.x

 

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The area that I have chosen to study is Mount Tolmie in Saanich, British Columbia. It is a small mountain, about 120 meters in elevation. It has some residential buildings as well as a paved road and public viewpoint and picnic areas. This area is designated as a city park. This area is a diverse home to many plant species, most notably the garry oak and arbutus trees. I visited the area in mid-february, on a sunny morning with light clouds and wind. The mountain has lots of exposed rock and is fairly dry, and has some meadow. 

Some things that I would be interested in studying in this region could be along the gradient of elevation change. For instance, I could study the concentration of certain elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil. I could also study the species density of a certain tree or shrub in respect to elevation as well. I may also want to study the diversity of a specific division of plants, such as a moss. Species I could study are the garry oak tree, the arbutus tree, or the division bryophyta.

Feb. 14, 2020 field journal BIOL 3021

Blog Post 9 Reflections

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For my research project I counted the abundance of ferns in three different light gradients. The lighting zones were No Shade, Partially Shaded and Shaded all varying in canopy cover. My results did not agree with my original hypothesis that I would find more ferns in the shaded zone. From my research I learned that the fern was likely within its optimal growing conditions under the Partially Shaded Zone. I also researched into why I had almost no ferns in the no shade zone. Originally, I thought it may be the ferns dislike of sunlight; however, from my research I learnt that it was likely a combination of factors. The reasons I think the fern did not grow in the No Shade zone was 1) because the No Shade zones were the consequence of human disturbances; blechnum spicant (deer fern) is known to not respond well to disturbances, 2) the fern was not able to compete with the early pioneers in the disturbed zones. From my research I also found that I my conclusions were limited because I did not know the moisture content of the soil the ferns were growing under, relative humidity and the trees the ferns were often growing around.  The project was still a very positive experience for me. Never the less it was a bumpy ride for me for the following reasons which one would do well to consider in their project:

  • Originally I was studying a fungi that was very hard to find so I had to change to a more manageable organism to count and study.
  • My study area is Barnaby mountain and I had originally chosen sites very high on the mountain which made the process of making observations not only time consuming but very difficult to conduct measurements on a steep incline.
  • I had a really hard time finding relevant scientific articles to review for my paper. This could be avoided by an extra hour of or two of research at the beginning of the project to determine if the organism of interest has much written on it.

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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To review, my hypothesis is that trees growing in groups will have a different mortality rate in comparison to those growing in isolation across all aspects of growth. The theoretical basis of my project is that tree density and aspect will effect how successful Douglas-fir trees are. My hypothesis is primarily concerned with aspect of growth and tree density. It might also touch on environmental factors such as precipitation throughfall, competition, and disturbance frequency. My research is underpinned by ideas such as tree-to-tree competition, annual precipitation, and annual hours of sunlight. Some key words that could be used to describe my project are Douglas-fir forest, aspect of growth, and tree density.

Blog Post 5 – Design Reflections

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Blog Post 5 – 12-02-20

Collecting the initial data in Module 3 proved to be a difficult task. I spent much time trying to ensure that I correctly identified the vegetation species in the current winter conditions. The species I selected were large enough for me to clearly identify what grouping they belonged to and once that task was complete I was able to get a closer look at them to determine what species of tree or bush they were. The sampling strategy I chose for that data collection was Stratified Random sampling. The study area of the park was divided by strata into park land, which the area was mostly comprised of, and pond land, which was a much smaller portion. After diving the two strata, I randomly selected four areas in the park land and sampled the vegetation within, finding this process to be rather difficult for the aforementioned reasons. The two pond areas were relatively easy to measure, especially as I drew closer to the water with much of the regular vegetation diminishing in these areas. The data that I collected seemed to be relatively unsurprising with some of my general expectations having been met. For example, I had made the prediction before sampling that vegetation such as the Broadleaf Cattail (Typha latfolia) would be found only in pond location quatrats. Upon sampling, it was made clear that this prediction was correct. Overall there were no unusual data collected that caused me any surprise. I think from completing this first sampling data collection, I will continue to use the same strategy of Stratified Random sampling as it appeared that this strategy allowed me to accurately find both the abundance and distribution of several species in the park.