The site I have chosen for the research project is Rotary Park in the city of Merritt BC. The ground cover is primarily Poa pratense, which is a grass species used for residential lawn grass. The area is also beside the Nicola River, the Nicola River is an approximately 100km river that flows through most of the city, it is also salmon spawning grounds for Oncorhynchus kisutch. The size of the site approximately 3 hectares along the river. Upon arriving for the initial site visit I came across an Odocoileus hemionus doe and its young, they crossed a shallow part in the river and disappeared into the shrubs along the river. I observed a bird in the Populous trichocarpa, it made a distinctive sound, but I could not identify it because it had gotten dark and I could no longer see clearly. I also observed an unidentifiable species of bat, it seemed to fly in circles, most likely hunting for food like moths and mosquitos. I am particularly interested in this site because there have been Lynx rufus seen in the area. On my next site visit I will get a more detailed inventory of the plant species that inhabit the area.
Category: Percy Hebert
Blog Post 2
- A) say what the source is (and/or link to it)\
Text book off my shelf
Veterinary Herbal Medicine – Susan G. Wynn , Barbara J. Fougere
Publisher MOSBY ELSEVIER ( academic publisher of textbooks and academic journals)
- b) classify it into one of the four types of information discussed in the tutorial
Written by experts in the field :
Susan G. Wynn – DVM RH . Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital , College of Veterinary Medicine
Barbara J. Fougere – BSc, BVMS(Hons) MODT, BHSc ( Comp. Med), CVA(IVAS) CVCP, CV Herb Med, MHSc ( Herb Med) ENR All Natural Vet Care in Sydney Australia
The source was contributed to by 18 other academics in the field . Ranging from Botanists, Veterinarians, RHTs and Toxicologists . Though from my understanding a text book is technically not peer reviewed.
Under the acknowledgment section “ We could have not have done it without our authors, and we have relied upon reviewers to survey the information for errors. We thank Joni Freshman, Patricia Upton , David Wintson and Eric Yarnell for previewing the chapters for accuracy. “
The book reports studies, results, methods but not from the authors themselves.
I would say that this textbook is an academic material .
I chose this categorization because though this book was contributed to by other experts – there is no mention of an official review. They do mention in the acknowledgment section that the they thank the reviewers – but these names mentioned are not acknowledged as experts in the field. The text is written by experts in the field. It contains scientific material, bibliographies, in text citations and method/result sections. Though the scientific studies were not conducted specifically by the authors.
Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives (Percy)
The theoretical basis of my research project involves the examination of bottom-up and top-down regulation on the abundance of Orconectes propinquus (freshwater Northern Ontario Crayfish). Jochum et al (2012) examine the combined effects of nutrient availability and size structure of predatory crap populations (bottom-up and top-down forces) on the mean community body mass, abundance, species richness, and the biomass and abundance of individual taxa from the entire community regardless of trophic levels. This is a similar study in which I examine the top-down and bottom-up forces occurring in two different freshwater lakes in North Bay, Ontario. The longer the crayfish, the higher the biomass, therefore a possible result of top-down forcing of predators on a particular species of crayfish. In particular, the difference in length of the crayfish in one lake as opposed to the other may be a result of an underlying process such as bottom-up or top-down regulation. Another ecological process that may be touched on in my hypothesis is climate change. In freshwater ecosystems, increased frequency of extreme rain and flooding can affect freshwater systems by contamination of biocides and nutrients. This type of stressor may have an influence on abundance and/or productivity of the ecosystem. The many different stressors and their potential affect on abundance of crayfish species is important when trying to understand predator-prey relationships, in this case, between large/small mouth bass and crayfish.
3 keywords: bottom-up regulation, abundance, freshwater crayfish, multiple stressors
Blog Post 9: Field Research Reflections (Percy)
Overall, the process of this field project has been a learning experience to say the least. From choosing a project that was interesting yet hard to test (mayflies in Northern Ontario), to creating my own traps for my new project and them being taken away from pedestrians, I would say that I have learned more than I thought I would. The first change I had to make was changing the entire project itself, then I thought I would create my own minnow traps to save some money, realized those didn’t work (and were taken out of the water by pedestrians), and then finally getting the help I needed by meeting Joe the fisherman and getting tips and real minnow traps for the crayfish. Throughout this entire process, I have gone from being really excited to see what I caught to very upset and frustrated when realizing it wasn’t working. This process allowed me to really open my eyes to ecological studies and experiments as I have gained a true appreciation for the patience, concentration, and time that goes into a ecological field study. I have also realized that although there is evidence of a particular process occurring in an area, these processes can be influenced by the environmental conditions, time of the year, and so on.
Blog Post 8: Tables and Graphs (Percy)
Creating a graph for this particular experiment was challenging, as I was not able to collect as much data as I had thought. The average surface temperature of both Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake were compared with each other, as well as demonstrating the potential impact of the temperature on the number of crayfish caught. I had expected to catch at least 4-5 crayfish in total, however the results collected were much lower as I only caught 1 crayfish in the entire experiment. Although the organization of the graph was difficult to create, it is useful to see the effect of surface temperature at each trap location on the amount of crayfish and species caught. If I were to further explore this idea, I would use a more strategic sampling strategy, where all 5 traps are in prime locations to catch crayfish in both Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing.
Blog Post 6: Data Collection (Percy) (New)
Trout Lake
To collect my field data I returned the following day, on August 6, 2018 to collect the number of species and number of crayfish I found in each trap. I was discouraged again to find that I had caught no crayfish, although, there were some other species in the trap that I recorded for accuracy as well. The only pattern that seems to be evident is that the temperature of the water, somewhat warm, seems to mean as of right now that crayfish do not enjoy this environment, however, it is very possible that they just didn’t come out that night. In order to eliminate the unknown, it was important to sample this location on 2 different occasions. Unfortunately, the replicates resulted in relatively the same data.
Lake Nipissing
To collect my field data I returned the following day, August 7, 2018 to collect the number of species and number of crayfish I found in each trap. In traps 1-4, there were no other species in the trap, nor were there any crayfish. However, in Trap 5, one that I placed a little closer to the rocks and vegetation, I caught my first crayfish! I was very excited as it looked like the species I was aiming to catch, Orconectes propinquus, as it is supposed to be very common in Northern Ontario freshwater lakes. I measured this crayfish to compare its length to the crayfish found in Trout Lake,. In regards to replicates, I also sampled this location on two different occasions. Unfortunately, no crayfish or any other species were caught. This information made me reflect on my hypothesis, as I was so sure I would catch at least 3 or 4 crayfish in Lake Nipissing as it is known for its shallow, warmer waters where crayfish thrive. Perhaps it was the way I sampled and the locations that I chose that determined the results? Although these thoughts were going through my mind, fisherman Joe confirmed he has used those traps before in this specific area and have caught many crayfish over the past few months, therefore it really could have been the temperature of the water, time of day, temperature of the air, or any other environmental factor that influenced the results.
Blog Post 5: Design Reflections (Percy) (New)
The collection of the initial data was difficult to say the least. In the beginning, I had created my own traps after watching a few YouTube tutorials. To implement this sampling technique, I needed 5 minnow traps, each costing around $20-$25 each, which was not in my budget so I made them myself. After putting the traps in their locations, I returned the following day and found them sitting in the bush outside of the water. Trying to find a location where pedestrians would not have easy access to was probably the most difficult part of setting up the experiment, as it took 3 days and 2 tries of putting my homemade traps out to realize that they weren’t the best way to catch crayfish. After having them out the second time and returning to only 3 traps, I decided I had to modify my approach by speaking to a real fisherman and buying the minnow traps. Thankfully, Joe the fisherman was kind enough to lend me 5 traps and give me some pointers on where to put them. This time, instead of bread, I used dead minnows as bait for the crayfish and kept the traps in areas of the lake that were rich in vegetation, rocks, and mud. I strongly believed this would have a significant impact on my research.
Blog Post 3: Ongoing Field Observations (Percy) (New Project)
DAY 1: August 5, 2018
Trout Lake
To identify the specific locations of interest it was important for me to research to understand where it is likely for me to catch Orconectes propinquus in North Bay, Ontario. After trying to research online for answers, I thought it would be more useful to speak to someone who catches crayfish and other species on a daily basis. Joe is a fisherman who owns a bait shop in North Bay, just along Lake Nipissing. At this point, I had already created my own crayfish traps using plastic bottles, fishing line, rope, and a piece of bread. The previous day, I had put these traps out in 5 different locations along the shoreline of Trout Lake, recorded the temperature of the water, air, time of day, etc., and returned to check out what I had caught. Unfortunately, my homemade traps were taken out of the water by pedestrians and left in the bush. I emptied those traps, put a new piece of bread in, and tossed them back into the water for another night while I tried to figure out how I was going to catch the crayfish without spending too much money on minnow traps.
While those traps stayed in the water over night, Joe the fisherman was kind enough to lend me 5 minnow traps, some rope, and dead minnows for the crayfish to eat. He informed me that he usually catches them closer to the dock, where there is more vegetation and the crayfish can hide. Around 11:15am, 21 degrees Celcius outside, and an average surface temperature of water of 18.12 degrees Celcius, I put out the traps in the 5 random locations along the gradient (some vegetation, some rocks, sand/mud, etc.).
Below is a photo of all 5 traps in 5 randomly selected locations:
DAY 2: August 6, 2018
Today I went to collect my traps to count the number of crayfish, if any, and number of other species, if any, in the trap. If there were crayfish, I planned on measuring the length of the crayfish to examine if there was a difference in size between Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing, and use that as evidence to the type of feeding of crayfish in that particular environment.
**Note: 3 of 5 homemade traps floated away in the water, 2 of them collected no species. This information was disregarded in the analysis of my study.
Lake Nipissing
After collecting the data for Trout Lake, it was time to move the traps to the other lake in North Bay, Lake Nipissing. In efforts to keep the traps safe, I chose a location where a family member of mine could look after the traps. It was also important that I kept the traps in a relatively similar environment, for example, an area of vegetation, rocks, and mud/sand, as crayfish are more likely to be caught in those areas.
Below are photos of all 5 traps in 5 randomly selected locations:
Hypothesis:
I hypothesize that there will be a greater abundance of Orconectes propinquus crayfish in Lake Nipissing as opposed to Trout Lake. I believe that the surface temperature of the water has a direct affect in the abundance of crayfish in both lakes.
- Response variable: number of Orconectes propinquus crayfish present
- Explanatory variable: average surface area temperature of Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake
- These variables would be considered continuous variables as they can take on any value between its minimum and maximum value
- Sampling technique: Simple Random
- Constructed imaginary baselines on the two maps of Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake
- Blindly pointed at 10 locations, and then blindly chose 5 of those 10 spots to determine 5 sample locations in each lake
- Some underlying processes that may cause the patterns I have observed may be that the average temperature of the spots in Lake Nipissing are generally warmer than the surface area temperature of Trout Lake. This may have an effect on the number of species, especially if the particular species prefers warmer temperatures.
Blog 5: Design Reflections
After collecting my initial field data, I noticed an issue with my methods. I counted the ducks 5 times in one day, at two hour intervals. I found that since ducks have the ability to walk and not stay stationary like plants, I had some trouble counting the ducks without error. I alleviated this problem for the most part by taking pictures of the areas and counting the ducks that way, but some could have been missed if they were in the bushes surrounding the water. I noticed that the ducks at the bridge preferred to be in the water around noon and 4pm but being in the shade or the sun didn’t seem to be a factor at these times even with the warmer water temperature, but at the other two study sites, there didn’t seem to be enough ducks to make a solid hypothesis, so I have decided that for my next data collection, I will count the ducks at 10am, 2pm, and 6pm to account for the changes in behaviour, and I will mainly focus my studies on the site of the moat with the bridge. I also believe that my initial hypothesis had too many variables, and the food source variable will be much harder to test for, so I decided to condense my hypothesis to just include water quality. In doing so, it made my study much easier to conduct. Overall, I do believe my systematic sampling method to work and though I found a few of my observations to be surprising at the time, looking back on them, they do make a lot of sense when I think about what I know about how ducks behave.
Blog Post 1: Observations (NEW PROJECT)
The areas I have selected to observe are aquatic bodies of water in North Bay, Ontario. There are two large lakes in North Bay that are home to a variety of species, as well are known for different fish such as Bass, Muskee, crayfish, etc.
Site A: Lake Nipissing
- Surface area of 873.3 km2, 196m above sea level, average depth of 4.5 m (shallow), max depth 64m & max length 65 km
- 3rd largest lake in Ontario
- Located between Ottawa River and Georgian Bay
- Topography: flat land
- Vegetation: shallow water lake
- August 1, 2018, 2:00pm, 22 degrees Celcius, scattered showers (light rain)
There are many species that are abundant in Lake Nipissing, such as Bass and Muskee. What interests me is the abundance of a particular species in Lake Nipissing as opposed to Trout Lake (Site B). Lake Nipissing is near a sewage treatment plant; therefore the sewage is most likely dumped into this lake causing the temperature to be warmer. Lake Nipissing is also known to be very shallow, perhaps contributing to the temperature of the water as well.
Site B: Trou
t Lake
- Surface area of 348.1 km2, 11.27 km long, 202 m above sea level, 4km wide
- 6km east of Lake Nipissing
- Exists eastward into the Matter River, flowing via the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence River
- Source of the Mattawa River
- Located on a well-known historic North American fur-trading route
- North Bay drinking water obtained from this lake
Trout Lake is known for its cooler, deeper waters. The species of fish are endless, as they haven’t found the bottom of this lake yet, which spikes interest to me on the differences between abundance of the same species within the two different lakes. The lake is very deep, perhaps contributing to the temperature of the water, as well as the types of species that live in the shallower areas closer to the shoreline.
I am interested in examining a species that may be important to the life of bigger fish within the two lakes, and am intrigued by the idea of the water temperature having an affect on the abundance of this species. Perhaps this is something I will examine for my field study.
- Does water temperature have an affect on the abundance of crayfish in either lake? What are the repercussions of this?
- Does water depth have an affect on the temperature of the water? If so, are crayfish more abundant in shallow or deep waters?
- Does water temperature have an affect on the species of crayfish present? If so, does this affect other species?
