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Blog Post 4 – Sampling Strategies

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In the virtual forest tutorial, I tried sampling techniques to compare their accuracy.

Haphazard (Area-sample)

  • Total quadrats sampled: 5
  • Area sampled: 500 sq. m
  • Species sampled: 6
  • Total specimens sampled: 39

There was an estimated sampling time of 2 hours 42 minutes. The error percentage for the 2 most common species was 13.9% and 34.2%. The error percentage for the 2 rarest species was 344% and 57%.

Haphazard (Distance-sample)

  • total points sampled: 5
  • species sampled: 5
  • total specimens sampled: 20

There was an estimated sampling time of 59 minutes. The error percentage for the 2 most common species was 42.3% and 28.1%. The error percentage for the 2 rarest species was 72% and 44%.

Systematic (Area-sample)

  • Total quadrats sampled: 5
  • Area sampled: 500 sq. m
  • Species sampled: 6
  • Total specimens sampled: 34

There was an estimated sampling time of 2 hours 39 minutes. The error percentage for the 2 most common species was 4% and 43.6%. The error percentage for the 2 rarest species was 47.1% and 43.6%.

Systematic (Distance-sample)

  • Total points sampled: 5
  • Species sampled: 7
  • Total specimens sampled: 20

There was an estimated sampling time of 59 minutes. The error percentage for the 2 most common species was 13.2% and 12.9%. The error percentage for the 2 rarest species was 51.5% and 11.8%.

From these results I determined that the distance method is the fastest way to sample. When comparing the error percentage of the different strategies for the 2 most common and 2 rarest species, it seems the accuracy does change with species abundance. Generally speaking, the systematic distance sampling method was more accurate than the haphazard one.

Blog Post 3 – Ongoing Field Observations

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I am going to be studying the distribution/abundance of various species of moss (Bryophyta) within the study area and the direction in which they are growing on trees (can they accurately demonstrate cardinal points). I will be collecting distributional data from the “peninsula in the woods”. Although it is, as a whole, a forested area, there definitely are micro-environments which vary significantly from one another. Here is a summary of what I’ve observed:

Area 1: Dense

Sunlight is minimal. Trees at an average of 30cm from each other. Shorter grass. Ground fairly flat. Visible moss and fungi growth.

Area 2: Open

Sunlight is moderate. Trees at an average of 1-2m from each other. Flat land. Tall grass commonly flattened by wildlife. Visible moss and fungi growth.

Area 3: River bank

Sunlight is abundant. Various distance between trees. Ground slanted towards the river. Visible moss and fungi growth.

I hypothesize that moss grows on the Northern face of trees, making it an accurate and reliable source for navigation. Considering my hypothesis, I predict that:

  • There will be an abundance and noticeable amount of at least one species of moss in the studied area.
  • The majority of moss studied will be pointing North.

I believe that the categorical response variable is moss and that the categorical predictor variable is the direction of growth. My experiment is not a manipulative experiment, I won’t be modifying predictor variables to observe the results. I will be conducting a natural, tabular experiment where I will observe the areas as they are, and collect data.

Blog 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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My hypothesis is that the Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) will be much more abundant by the bridge of the moat compared to the mouth of the moat entering the river or the pond in the golf course and after a few days of observations I believe this is mainly due to the landscape composition, primarily water quality. Not many ducks were counted by the mouth of the moat to the river, and this could be due to the speed of the river water, whereas by the bridge the water is much more calm. There was also little to no ducks around or in the pond and after testing the water quality, I believe this to be the main reason.

Keywords: landscape composition, habitat, mallard duck distribution, animal behaviour, patch choice

Blog Post 8

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The graph shown above represents the average amount of moisture in soil samples obtained from hilltops and valleys in Valleyview Nature Park. The biggest difficulty I had was figuring out how to create different standard deviation bars on Excel. I decided to organize this data in a figure for ease of interpretation; the rest of my data is summarized in a table not included in this submission.

The average soil moisture content in hilltop samples was 21.95% +/- 1.03%. The average soil moisture content in valley samples was 27.20% +/- 2.22%. Due to limitations of laboratory access and weather, I had to collect the soil samples approximately seven hours after precipitation. Therefore, moisture levels were much higher than I initially anticipated. That being said, my results appear to support what I expected in that soil moisture content was higher in valleys than hilltops.

Blog Post 6: Data Collection

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I did my data collection on four separate days, first on September 12, then the 13th, 15th and 19th. I counted the number of ducks in each of the three locations at McArthur Island and categorizing them into each of the four states depending on if the ducks were on land or in water. I repeated this process at three times of the day (10am, 2pm, 6pm). After analyzing my data on the first day I realized that over the course of the day the temperature of the air and water increased, and so the number of ducks in the water increased substantially . At the pond and the river though, there was not much change over the three times I observed the ducks. After viewing this data my hypothesis still hasn’t changed and I will continue to analyze it and make some slight adjustments to my methods

Blog Post 7

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My hypothesis is that sagebrush will be more abundant on hill tops versus valleys in Valleyview Nature Park. The ecological processes my hypothesis touches on includes water cycling, elevation, and species richness.

 

Keywords: sagebrush distribution, moisture content, elevation gradient.

Blog Post 9

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In reflection I would have done a few more plots and possibly taken one of my biologist friends with me to help in the identification of all the different vegetation species in the area.

I may have ally went out more than a few times and did the multiple sampling dates.  In the early spring when the thistle was first growing, mid summer and early fall to see the difference in the growth of everything in these plots for this area.

 

 

Blog Post 8

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I did have a bit of problems trying to create a single graph that showed all the information that I wanted it to show.  I ended up breaking it up into graphs for each plot.

Plot 1 graph

There was nothing unexpected that I encountered with this project but for future exploration that I would have liked to look at would be to see if there is any grazing in the area that may have happened or the introduction of a biological control to this area to help minimize the growth of the thistle.

Blog Post 7

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I would have to say that the ecological process for this would be competition.  The Canada Thistle is in constant competition with all the other vegetation for both root space and leaf space.  The keywords that I would choose for this project would be root spreading/reproduction, competition, canopy cover thistle.

Blog Post 9

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I designed an experiment to determine the nitrate and phosphate levels in water invaded by Parrotfeather. Furthermore, I wanted to determine a treatment for the invasive plant. This research was very insightful for me and helped me understand ecological processes at a higher level. I did encounter some problems in terms of carrying out the treatment in the field, which I understand I could not do due to legal reasons. However, with the help of scholarly articles and the results from the water tests performed, I was able to conclude the research with a suggestion on the treatment of Parrotfeather. Engaging in this research has increased my interest in environmental research especially for invasive species. I enjoyed the research and will be looking for a career in research. The unpredictability of biological research in the field is exhilarating. I enjoyed going to the field and collecting samples and performing tests, it felt very personal and I was invested in the research. I am proud of all that I have learned through this course and the research, I will continue to gain knowledge and keep updating my current research as well. I look forward to conducting more researched moving forward!!!