Category: Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

Blog Post 7!

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The theoretical basis behind my research is to study the diversity of species living in intertidal locations with varying environmental stress.  It can also relate back to climate change with the sea levels rising will the species at high elevation still be able to survive. The ideas that are connected to my research include any study that is looking at elevation from the low-tide mark as a key factor in different species. Also, the idea that the ocean environment is changing and within these micro environments ( tide pools) they can show a small version of what could happen to the whole ocean with regards to less diversity with changing conditions (ie. sea temperature and sea level rising).

 

Species diversity, intertidal zones, marine niches.

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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My research touches on biotic and abiotic factors, physiological stress, chemical stressors, and the stress-exposure-response model (SER model). Biotic factors are brought up in my experiment because my research examines the influence a living organism has on another. My dog has a direct influence on the grass because the urea from her urine becomes toxic and creates dead spots in my yard. Urea, combined with shade and moisture, all play the role of abiotic factors that influence the condition of Common Fern Moss (Thuidium delicatulum). When these nonliving agencies reach a suboptimal level, Thuidium delicatulumfaces physiological stress through restricted growth or rotting. Urea has a similar effect on the grass in my yard. Increased exposure of urea causes toxicity to the grass and kills it. These cause-effect relationships mentioned above allude to the SER model (stress-exposure-response). The SER model demonstrates the biological or ecological changes as a result of the change in intensity of environmental stressors.

 

Three keywords that I could use to describe my research project are: chemical stressors, percent coverage, and abiotic factors.

 

Post 7: Theoretical perspectives

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My project is studying the effects of clearcutting on species composition along the newly harvested edge. Some ecological process my hypothesis touches on is the rate at which a forest re establishes itself and the successional stages it goes through. Another process that my project touches on is the effects of weather on a newly exposed edge of timber due to clearcutting. This part of the study will be interesting to determine how the now open canopy receives additional resources needed for growth but also is subject to new challenges. Three key words that pertain to my project are Open Canopy, early successional species and site disturbance.

BLOG POST 7

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My project deals with the effect of heavy metal pollution on soils close to industrial sites and its additional effect on plant density in these areas. This type of research is of great importance due to the fact that there has been an increased incidence of pollution due to poor waste management practices and heavy industrial processes that have led to the contamination of the surrounding soil which is harmful to the surrounding vegetation. My research is centered primarily on the growth tendencies of the nodding onion plant with relation to the effect of heavy metal pollution of the soil. Three keywords with relation to my project are heavy metals, nodding onion, soil.

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

 

From a theoretical perspective, my research touches on competition, the differences between vascular and non-vascular plants, and how the topography of an area affects species composition. Competition is when organisms interfere with each other while trying to access resources. This seems to be apparent in my field research because the ornamental hedges on the side of the field opposite to the slope have grown taller and left the plants at the base of the slope in the shade, therefore outcompeting them for access to sunlight. One of the major differences between vascular and non-vascular plants is the presence of vascular tissue (xylem, phloem, etc.) and therefore the ability to move water in a larger body. In my opinion, this presence of vascular tissue is what allowed the  Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) and Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) found in my study area to grow tall enough to avoid the shade produced by the ornamental hedges and have sufficient access to sunlight. The topography of this area is important because as the elevation increases along the slope there is an apparent shift in the dominant and most plentiful species.

Three keywords that reference my research are elevation gradient, species coverage or percent coverage, and Athyrium filix-femina, one of the dominant species I am studying.

Post 7

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My project deals with the adaptive traits of western redcedar. Western redcedar is common in our natural forests, but much less abundant in post-harvest stands due to the various challenges with re-establishing it.  My hypothesis focuses on the evolutionary fitness of western redcedar.  I find this research increasingly important because of the amount of area in British Columbia that has been developed into managed forests.  Western redcedar has always been an important ecologically, economically and has significate importance for Aboriginal people.  It is ethically important to consider how forest management strategies can adapt in order to maintain redcedars abundance on the landscape.  A few key areas that my project will focus on are tolerance, adaptation, and stressors.

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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The idea behind my research is that density/crowding of trees has a significant effect on new tree growth (annual budding) in addition to the overall biomass accumulated over years of growth. Each individual tree was planted the same year and are the same age. Also, they are all planted within the same acre with the same soil conditions. The only difference in their growing conditions is the distance that they were planted from one another, creating the crowding gradient. Soil and weather conditions and species interactions are all constant. The different levels of crowding between locations will theoretically create some variations in the soil nutrients and water available to each individual. Although I will not be testing those factors directly, I will be observing the subsequent results of their effects in the form of overall growth and biomass. Resource competition influencing growing capacity is the main underlying idea in my research. It should be stronger in the most crowded site (Location 1) compared to the least crowded site (Location 3) since there are more individuals competing for the same amount of resources.

Keywords: resource competition, density dependence, individual tree growth

Blog Post #7: Theoretical Perspectives

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In my study, I seek to compare the daily behaviours of dabbling ducks in an engineered urban wetland to similar species in natural environments.  Urban wetland areas (both natural and constructed) provide important benefits by filtering pollutants and pathogens from wastewater, mitigating flood risk, absorb carbon from the atmosphere and providing aesthetically pleasing recreational areas.  While beneficial to human-kind, these areas are also incredibly biodiverse, especially compared to surrounding urbanized areas. Urban wetland areas are often targeted for development in cities looking to squeeze what they can from the available land, putting diverse ecosystems at risk of destruction.

The ecological processes my research focuses on would be behavioural ecology and resource ecology. While the scope of my study obviously isn’t comprehensive enough for a “real” ecological study, I hope that by comparing the behaviours of ducks living in urban wetland environments to those in more natural settings I can provide an argument for the protection of existing wetlands, and perhaps for increased development of new wetland areas in urban settings through my hypothesis that the ducks I study will exhibit similar behaviour patterns to their comparators in natural environments. Significant differences in behaviour between populations may produce additional hypotheses for future investigation into the construction/design techniques employed.

 

Keywords: Engineered Wetlands; Dabbling Ducks; Time-Energy Budget

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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My project touches on a couple theories, as it is determining when birds are most active in response to differing weather patterns.

My research is based on reproductive fitness and survival, as birds need to leave their nests in varying weather conditions in order to gather food and provide for themselves and their progeny. There are two theories that effect fitness and survival I read about while doing research they are as follows:

Optimal foraging theory: the individual will adapt foraging strategies to gain the most at the smallest cost

Movement Ecology paradigm: individual movements are the result of interactions between navigational capacities, environmental factors, and individual internal state

The birds in my research project play on both of these theories in that when they leave their nests they are producing movements (i.e. flapping or gliding) based on navigational capacities, environmental factors, and individual internal state. They are also trying to gain the most energy at the smallest cost which also influences their reactions to certain weather conditions.

Key words: reproductive fitness; optimal foraging theory; movement ecology paradigm

Post Seven: Theoretical Perspectives, Cates Park

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There are many ecological processes that relate to my research at Cates Park on the successful growth of Tsuga heterophylla on nurse logs.

  • Anthropogenic microdisturbances caused by timber harvesting is followed by gap phase microsuccessions occurring throughout the park where large, old growth trees have been logged.
  • These microsuccessions likely have founder-controlled communities, as the species that grow on nurse logs have similar environmental tolerances, as I have observed ample species richness.
  • Facilitation is an ecological process that benefits Tsuga heterophylla, as the substrate of the abiotic nurse habitats benefits this conifer’s success.
  • Because I am collecting information on canopy cover, I might be able to analyze asymmetric competition, to determine if larger species that cast more shade exclude smaller flora.

Keywords that summarize this research in Cates Park are

  • microdisturbance and microsuccession
  • nurse log
  • Temperate Rainforest