Category: Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

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.

At this point in time I believe the pattern I have noticed and researched is the result of numerous ecological processes. The successful germination and/or survival of alder seedlings is not as easy and prolific as as I once thought. So far, according to my research, Alnus rubra’s ability to spread can vary significantly from region to region and from season to season. This is believed to be due to differences in how wet or dry the area is, availability of sunlight, availability of exposed soil, and competition. Even with this information, prediction of germination and survivability seems to be difficult to predict.

Focusing on my own site of interest, it may represent a shoreline that was once a good spot for alder to spread, but has changed significantly over the last 100 years. Here are a few ecological processes I believe my study may involve:

Erosion

I recently found some heritage photos dated to about the mid-1900s that feature the shoreline about 500 meters to the north. It’s clear that it the shore has receded many meters from where it once was and more trees were present along the shore in the past. I believe that a portion of my work may involve the subjects of disturbance and succession in that as the shoreline continues to erode the collapsed areas are quickly colonized by blackberry, ivy, and vigorous or invasive plants rather than alder.

Biotic factors

It’s also possible that this area experiences a high enough level of moisture that fungi or pathogens are present and quickly kill off any young seedlings that do germinate.

Availability of sunlight

I need to evaluate the potential ages of the trees in the forest area further to the east of the shore. It may be possible that the mature alders along the shore are actually older than the evergreen trees in this forest. If this is the case, the alders may have germinated at a time in which the forest was logged, therefore plenty of sunlight could reach the shore for most of the day. Now, years later, a forest of evergreens stands much higher than an alder could ever grow, blocking the sun until it makes its way far enough west to strike the shore in the late afternoon and evening only.

Keywords:

Interspecific competition

Biotic influences

Erosion disturbance (and succession)

Microclimate

 

My project is around fern growth in relation to varying amounts of sunlight. I have broken the areas I am sampling in to either be shaded, partially shaded or no shade. My hypothesis is that ferns will be more abundant in shaded areas. This is something that I have observed while finding suitable sites for sampling. From my initial sampling the partially shaded areas have the most ferns. Likely there are several other variables influencing the growth of ferns. The amount of water, human disturbances, intraspecific competition, change in gradient which can influence water. The human disturbances occur from one of my sites which is cut every several month by the gas pipeline owners. In this one sites there are almost no ferns possible because they can’t compete with the faster growing prickle bushes and grasses. I plan on taking more samples to provide a more clear picture as to what lighting conditions are optimal.

 

 

 

Keywords: Fern abundance, light adaption, light gradient.

The hypothesis that I set out is the overall ecology are healthy and varies in species as more land development induced in the region.

 

Land development involving human activities are sort of artificial selection activity. We measured the health of ecosystems in many ways by taking into account different sides  to measure their health. And the health of ecosystem depended on the landscape. Whether the landscape was actively managed by human was the independent variable, which derives in different environment where individuals shows different survival and reproduction rate. This offers an context with natural selection and artificial selection among ecological concepts.

 

Keywords that I would use to describe my hypothesis would include artificial selection, evolutionary fitness, vegetation abundance and diversity, bird activity, urbanization.

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.