Category: Nancy Elliot

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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Keizer, P. S., Gajewski, K., & Mcleman, R. (2015). Forest dynamics in relation to multi-decadal late-Holocene climatic variability, eastern Ontario, Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology,219, 106-115. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.04.001

The source that I chose is from an online database. The title of the article is Forest Dynamics in Relation to Multi-Decadal Late-Holocene Climatic Variability, Eastern Ontario, Canada. I have determined that this is an Academic, peer reviewed research article as the authors of this paper are experts in the field. Furthermore, there are in-text citations used throughout the paper, and a reference list with the sources used are provided at the end of the paper, which informs me that the material used in the paper is from academic sources. As this paper has also been reviewed by at least one referee prior to publication, and thus I was able to determine that it is a peer-reviewed paper. In addition, the authors report methods and details regarding how data was collected, as well as results, thus informing the readers that it is in fact research material.

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The area that I have selected to observe is a portion of a community park in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, called Milliken District Park. The total area of this park is approximately 32 hectares. It is located northeast of Scarborough at coordinates 43.8292° N, 79.2708° W. The park has many paved trails, a large pond, and numerous trees. There is a forest found near the pond. Most of the trees found in this park are mature.

Majority of the area is flat, but there are some hills. There is a rather large pond that which houses many birds, swans and fishes. Looking into the pond I could see an accumulation of litter, and the water quality seems poor.

The park contains landscaped gardens, gazeboes and different water features. There are also three playgrounds, a splash pad, and a large field where people usually play sports. I often visit this area weekly on walks, as there is a nice paved path around and inside the park, providing individuals with an area to bike, rollerblade, and walk. My initial observations and data collection of the park was made on 26 April 2017 from 6:07pm to 8:34pm. It was a sunny but windy day, with the temperature being around 12oC. During the collection period, there were many children playing in the playground. There were some birds and black squirrels that I saw in the forest, and throughout the park.

The area is mostly covered in green grass and trees. There are mixtures of deciduous and coniferous trees present throughout the park. Around the pond and the forest I noticed more wild type vegetation growth (sedges, weeds, etc). As this is a community park, roads and houses surround the park, but there is a clear distinction through the use of fences and gates.

Based on my observations, three questions that are interesting and could form the subject of my research project are:

  1. How does the pond have an impact on the vegetation and plant distribution surrounding it?
  2. How do humans impact the land, especially with regards to plant distribution?
  3. Not everything present in this park is natural, much of it is manmade, and thus, how does this impact plant distribution and the adaptation of the animal species that reside in the area?

Blog Post # 9: Field Research Reflections

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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!

Blog Post # 8: Tables and Graphs

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There was no difficulty organizing my data, although I had to decide if it would be best to do a bar graph or a line graph. In the end I went with a bar graph as that was the most familiar graph for me. The outcome was actually not quite as I had expected. I had initially assumed there would be more fruit on the plum tree as opposed to the other two trees but that did not seem to be the case here. In considering water stress alone, one might think that the idea of drought affecting fruit growth negatively is utterly untrue. That is why I chose to do further research on why these results were not what I had predicted and came across a few interesting explanations. Below is a table of all the weeks I counted fruit. The dashes under the Cherry Tree mean that during the 6th-12th week, there was no fruit on the tree as it had finished its harvest point.

Week 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Cherry 10 30 45 57 57 – – – – – – –
Pear 5 16 30 36 45 57 65 72 75 79 80 80
Plum 0 0 6 12 20 29 31 33 36 37 39 39

 

 

Post 5: Design Reflections

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After collecting this initial field data, I realize that I might have to expand my site to include beaches along the same coast. Farlow’s seaweed seems to grow very well when it is on its own in a tidepool. However, Farlow’s seaweed doesn’t seem to grow in many tide pools with higher diversity. To collect a large enough sample size, I might need to continue down the coast to visit more tidepools. A larger sample size will give me a more “solid” conclusion.

In addition to this, when collecting samples, the seaweed could not be completely taken off the rock. A small portion of its base remained strongly attached. The seaweed that was collected also contained other organisms. I separated the larger ones that would make a significant difference in the weighing but the smaller ones remain attached.

The major problem I encountered was that my scale only works in whole numbers so my precision is limited. I ended up having to weigh multiple samples at once in order to make the samples weighable. The samples less than one gram in weight were not detected by my scale.

The data that I’ve collected so far is not surprising. It does follow my initial hypothesis.

 

Blog Post 4: Sampling Strategies

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The technique with the fastest sampling time was systemic (sampling along a gradient).

Systemic: 12hr 7m

Random: 12hr 40m

Haphazard: 13hr 1m

% Error respectively

Eastern Hemlock, Sweet Birch, Striped Maple, White Pine.

Systemic: 17.9%, 46.8%, 28.6%, 197.6%

Random: 14.0%, 68.1%, 100%, 98.8%

Haphazard: 2.15%, 2.13%, 54.3%, 42.9%

Accuracy decreases with decreasing species abundance. As seen above, the first two numbers represent common species accuracy whereas the second two numbers represent rare species accuracy.

Based on the data I collected, haphazard seems to be the most accurate. This was likely due to my selection of quadrants to sample. I chose quadrants that were spread out and sampled all regions of the area. Haphazard could have decreased in accuracy if I chose to select quadrants that did not represent the whole area.

Blog 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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The source I chose was: An integrated analysis of the effects of past land use on forest herb colonization at the landscape scale by Kris Verheyen. This source is academic peer reviewed research material. This is because of the following:

 

  • The source is written by an expert in the field – Dr. Kris Verheyen, from the University of Leuven, He is the head of the Forest and Nature Lab. It includes in text citations, and it contains a bibliography. Therefore, it is academic material.

 

  • The source has been reviewed by at least 1 referee before publication. Therefore it is peer-reviewed academic material.

 

  • The source does report results of a field study completed by the authors. Therefore, it is academic peer-reviewed research material.

 

References

 

Verheyen K, Guntenspergen GR, Biesbrouck B, Hermy M (2003) An integrated analysis of the effects of past land use on forest herb colonization at the landscape scale. J Ecol 91:731–742. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2745.2003.00807.x/full

Blog 1: Observations

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The area I have selected for my observations is Mount Nkwala. Mount Nkwala is a mountain that is located west of the city of Penticton in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Mount Nkwala has many surrounding hiking and mountain biking trails. The trails begin at the top of West Bench, Penticton, and they lead to the top of Mount Nkwala. Many of the trails have views of Penticton and the south end of Okanagan Lake. The elevation of Mount Nkwala is 1019m, and the area is roughly 300 hectares. Its topography is mainly mountain slopes with very few flat areas. Its vegetation is very diverse, being mainly forested with areas of shrubs and rock.

Coordinates: 49.5286° N, 119.6411° W

Visited July 20, 2017 at 1pm.

Weather

28° C

Wind: 11 km/h

Questions

1) What animals inhabit the space? And, what effect do they have on the surrounding vegetation?

2) How is the vegetation effected by the people that hike and bike on the trails?

3) How does plant diversity change depending on the different slopes within the area?

Post 3: Ongoing Field Observations

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After revisiting my site, I have decided to study Farlow’s seaweed (Farlowia mollis).

As I was revisiting the tide pools, I noticed that they all had different community compositions. Some species were present in almost all tide pools, whereas some were only found in tide pools that had a more consistent supply of “fresh” ocean water. Farlow’s seaweed was one of the species that was present in most of the tide pools. However, it seemed that its morphology varied between communities. Some of them grew very large, whereas others seemed unable to grow to any significant extent. I noticed that the smaller ones were found when Farlow’s seaweed was not a dominant member of the community.

These observations led me to think of competition between the different types of algae in the tide pools. It also led me to question Farlow’s seaweed’s ability to compete with other algae for nutrients. If other species were present that had the ability to out-compete Farlow’s seaweed for resources, then Farlow’s seaweed would not grow to a large size as nutrients would be limited.

My hypothesis is that the growth and morphology of Farlowia mollis is influenced community composition. I predict that Farlow’s seaweed will grow better in communities where it is higher in abundance vs more diverse communities.

A potential response variable would be the size of the algae (i.e. distance from base of algae to tip of longest branch). This variable is continuous, as a range of sizes can be measured.

A potential predictor variable would be presence of neighbours of different species. This variable is categorical.

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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Multi-decadal establishment for single-cohort Douglas-fir forests.

Available from Canadian Journal of Forest Research, http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2013-0533

This paper is an academic, peer-reviewed research article.

The Canadian Journal of Forest Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“This manuscript was improved with the help of two peer reviewers. Linda Winter, Keala Hagmann, Derek Churchill, and Lauren Urgenson provided helpful reviews of this manuscript.” showed that it was indeed peer-reviewed.

The in-text citations + reference list that connected this work to other scientific work/sources also provided validity.

The paper was a research article as it contained primary research, utilizing scientific method. It contained an introduction, methods, results, and discussion section.