For my project regarding canopy closure and deciduous trees, I chose to do a bar graph. At first, I had a hard time deciding which type of graph showed the data effectively without confusion. This was a bit of a challenge due to having a large amount of data. In the end, I chose a bar graph as it clearly showed all the necessities while still providing a clear understanding of what was happening. The outcome of my data was mostly as expected, the only thing that surprised me was how little deciduous trees resided in a canopy closer <60%. I knew that the numbers would be significantly less than in open canopy areas but the fact that none were present <30% was truly surprising. if the study were to be conducted again more accurate canopy closure should be measured using photography. Due to randomized plot location, our data set was somewhat narrow with significant data lacking in canopy closure of 40-60% range. In future studies, non-randomized plots could also be implemented to ensure a broad data set was derived.
Category: Nancy Elliot
Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives
The theoretical basis of my research project is the conditions in which English Ivy thrives. I hypothesized that English ivy will be more abundant (have a higher percent cover) in the conditions where there is limited sunlight. My research project is centred around the conditions needed to support the Ivy growth, my research focus is sunlight but this may translate to other factors such as moisture and soil type. After doing some research I have discovered that English ivy is an invasive plant in British Columbia and I think this is a very interesting context to place my research in as well as being another underlying theoretical perspective. The characteristics of the ivy could be explained by its invasive nature. The pattern of growth can be related to surrounding vegetation and further investigation could be done on not only the English ivy but the plants around it.
Three keywords for my research project would be: percent cover, sunlight access, and invasive species.
Blog Post 6: Data Collection
During my field data collection, I collected 10 replicates from each of my two substrates, access to sunlight (uncovered from tree cover) and limited access to sunlight (covered by tree cover), this amounted to 20 replicates in total. I collected my replicates using a 1.0 by 0.5 meter quadrat and collected them along a transect in a straight line and randomized my steps between each sample. The quadrat was placed beside where my foot fell on the last step. After my initial collection, I had considered doing a point count rather than a percent cover but decided to stick with my initial measurement method of percent cover as the vast majority of the cover was English Ivy with few other plants to have to work around so I decided I will have adequate accuracy using percent cover. I did not face many challenged when collecting data, besides having to be very careful walking around the Ivy as it got very thick in some areas and I did not want to harm them! I did not notice any patterns that made me reflect on the hypothesis. My two substrate areas are very close in proximity, the major difference I observed between them being the tree line where the forest canopy starts and stops but it creates a drastic difference in the abundance of the Ivy.
Blog Post 5: Design Reflections
- My sampling method was using a 0.5 by 1.0-meter quadrat to measure the abundance of the Ivy in light and dark environments. There was not too much difficulty when collecting data this way as the results I observed were not surprising. It was a bit difficult to subjectively determine the percent cover but I marked my quadrat at 25cm and 50cm intervals to show an area of 25% to assist in judging the percent cover. Some replicates included other plants so observation of measurement had to be done without taking those into account. I am considering changing to a point count way of measuring as this may change the precision of my measurements but am wondering if this will be suitable for the English Ivy as some replicates had a large abundance that individual Ivy leaves would be difficult to count and I would need to determine what counted as a leaf being “inside” the quadrat. I will consider this however, percent cover did yield good results.
- will be as a comment 🙂
Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information
Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information
Your second post will concern sources of scientific information. Find one source of ecological information. It can be online, from the library, or from a book on your shelf. Based on what you have learned in the “How to evaluate sources of scientific information tutorial”, create a post in which you a) say what the source is (and/or link to it), b) classify it into one of the four types of information discussed in the tutorial, and c) provide documentation to support your classification.
- “Land Use and Avian Species Diversity Along an Urban Gradient”-Robert B. Blair , 1996
- academic peer reviewed research material
- The source is written by an expert in the field as the author is professionals in the field and it contains in-text citations and a bibliography. Also there is a mention in acknowledgment section in the source therefore this paper is academic peer reviewed article. Also the research contains methods and results of an experiment held in the project, therefore it is an academic peer reviewed research material.
Post 1 : Observations
The area that I choose to observe is two area, that is close to home. Because I thought it would be more accessible and it would be easier for me visit anytime I want. I live in South Korea, Daegu. The location I choose first for the research is a park built in apartment complex I live in and the second is protected forestation area around nearby church. Although the apartment complex area is called a park, it is fairly small so it would be likely called as city street with ornamental trees and shrubs. The protected area nearby chuck is somewhat forested. I visited these area at December 14th, 2019 around 10:30 AM. The topography in apartment park is flat, while the protected area is small hill/ slope. The weather was sunny and temperature ranged around 8-9 degree celsius.
The idea I thought as I observed these area was mainly related to artificial intervention on nature, and can be pointed in majorly three points.
- Were the various plant types in the park in the apartment complex only possible due to artificial intervention? So, can plants under artificial intervention go against the theory of natural selection? If so, in how much degree?
- Compared to the park and other naturally formed plant landscape, a plant species thatis only at apartment complex park, Does this apply to artificial selection or invasive species?
- The apartment complex park continues to maintain a much more visually beautiful appearance due to the care of the caretaker, compared with other naturally formed plant landscapes. Does this affect communication between different species each other?
All of the questions are derived from one big idea; Whether artificial intervention affect ecology or not. From this main idea I will derive more specific points as I go through the research.
Blog Post 3
I plan to study the fomitopsis pinicola mushroom.
I selected 6 locations to look for the mushroom along an altitudinal gradient on my two visits to the study area. Location One is 64 meters above sea level. In location One I was able to find the mushroom on a dead log and near the roots of a living tree. The first location is located in a wooded area near a small stream. The second location is at 128 meters and is up the power line trail, I was not able to find the mushroom. The Third location is at 195 meters and is on a trail with trees and shrubs on both sides just off the power line trail, I was not able to find the mushroom. Location Four is at 205 meters and location 6 is at 258 meters. In locations Four and Five I was able to find the mushroom on two logs. Both location 4 and 5 are deep within the forest; however, they were right off a trail. Location Six is at 96 meters. Location Six is near the trail end but still in the forest I was not able to find the mushroom.
I think that the altitude of my study area does not affect the abundance of the mushroom. Based on this hypothesis I think that I can find the mushroom at any altitude of the study area. As this hypothesis is limited in that the Burnaby Mountain does not reach different Altitudinal Zones such as Subalpine I have created a second hypothesis. There is a positive relationship between the presence of dead logs in an area and the presence of the mushroom. Based on this hypothesis the more dead logs I find within an area the more I will find the mushroom.
The response variable is the presence of the mushroom. The explanatory variable is the dead logs the mushroom grows on. Both my response variable and my explanatory variable are categorical because the mushrooms are only found in very specific conditions such as on a living tree or dead log.
Blog Post 1 – BNelson
The area I have chosen is part of the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area shown below.
The area is 1.85 km2. The part of the mountain I have chosen rises from roughly 160m to 290m above sea level. The majority of the area I have chosen is covered in forest with hiking trails and a high voltage power line going through. I have visited my site twice once on November 24th at 3:30pm. The temperature was around 7 C and the ground was wet. The second time was on December 8th from 1:00pm-3:00pm. The temperature was around 10 C and the ground was wet. The animals that live on the mountain include deer, squirrels, coyotes, raccoons, mice, rats, steller’s jay, and humming birds. There are many varieties of plants including ferns, maple trees, dogwood, Douglas fir, western hemlock, an
Red cedar. There are an innumerable amount of fungi. I have included several photos of the trail showing the power line surrounded by grasses and small shrubs in Figure 2, a mountain train in Figure 3 surrounded by forest and ferns.
The area is popular for dog walkers and mountain bikers. As such seeing any animals besides squirrels is uncommon as they shy away from humans. From my walks I had the following questions:
- Fungi are abundant in the forest why there are not any along the power line trail?
- What trees are indigenous to the area and which have been brought in?
- What parts of the study area have been logged if not the whole area in the past 100 years?
Post 2 Scientific Sources
The article I chose is The Importance of fungi and mycology for addressing major global challenges. The article was published in the IMA Fungus in 2014. The IMA Fungus is the official journal of the International Mycological Association. The article was written by Lene Lange. Lene is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark. The article is review of the current literature and how mycology can be used to address global challenges. There are in text citations and a list of references. There is no list of referees; however, because the article has been published in the IMA Fungus, I think it is an academic article that is not peer reviewed.
Lange, L., (2014). The Importance of fungi and mycology for addressing major global challenges. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25734035
Blog Post 8: Tables and Graphs
I chose to use a table to represent the field data I collected in this study. My table depicted a summary of each species I found at the range of elevations along the slope, and the percent canopy coverage of those species. Also included was quadrat size, location, and area covered by each species. Many species appeared in more than one elevation location. Lower elevations were dominated by pine grass and clover. Mid elevations primarily displayed the common fern and Saskatoon berry bushes. Finally, the highest elevations I recorded data for (10-11 m above the base of the slope) were dominated by the Lodgepole Pine and Paper Birch. I had no difficulty in organizing and aggregating the data. I may be able to summarize the information more concisely in graph format for the final report. In graph form, I would be able to show how individual species percent canopy cover changes across the entire slope in a more understandable visual way, rather than listing the species found at each site and their coverage. The outcomes of this data conformed to my expectations, nothing new was revealed. As predicted, more complex plants were more abundant at higher elevations, perhaps due to more sunlight exposure, or a change in nutrients found upslope. For further exploration, a more comprehensive study could be undertaken to determine if this pattern applies to the entirety of Terrace Mountain, or only on this specific slope.
