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Post 9: Field Research

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Overall, my field research went fairly smoothly, and I was able to draw conclusions about insect abundance and insect species richness in three sites along an environmental gradient. The only major change I had to make to my experimental design was to use insect traps with stickier adhesive than originally used, as I was not confident that all insects crossing the trap were being effectively trapped there. Other than this minor complication, I believe I was able to design and implement an effective and scientifically sound experiment.

 

The project itself did, in fact, increase my appreciation for the complex, intricate, and sophisticated manner in which ecological studies are conducted. Being a BSc student with a major in cellular, molecular, and microbiology, I was admittedly unappreciative of the work that goes into ecology research and the importance of conducting these studies for conservation and preservation purposes.

Post 8: Tables and Graphs

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I found that a scatter graph was the best way to represent my average (mean) data, while a table was better if readers are looking for more specific data, where there is a value of species richness and insect abundance for each trap set per site. I did not have any difficulties organizing, summarizing and converting my data into an appropriate graphical representation, as I used my laptop to enter my field data directly into excel, however, I struggled to decide which representation, being either a graph or table, was the best to include in the body of my research project report. In the end, I decided to include the graph and place the table in the appendix for further reference for the readers. The outcome of the experiment, shown by the data, was relatively what I expected to see in terms of species richness, but was farther from expected in terms of insect abundance. I expected the insect abundance to be extremely high in the bird sanctuary, and then slightly to moderately decrease in the meadow and then the residential area. While the data did follow this trend, I found that the insect abundance was not as high as I expected in general, as I thought more would be present on the traps. After considering the reasons for the lower than expected abundance, I realized the type of trap used bay not be sufficient for catching all types of insects, and therefore, the actual species abundance may be higher than the experimental value. If I were to repeat this experiment or move forward with it in the future, I would use other types of traps in conjunction with the adhesive ones already used, for example; a pitfall trap, which accounts for only insects that crawl along the ground.

Blog Post 9

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I think the difficulty in designing the study for this field research project is that I performed the intensive literature review occurs following the completion of the study. I found results in the literature that would have been useful in designing my study. For example, I found a study that showed that fern density decreased closer to a river. It would have therefore been interesting to compare fern density as the distance from the creek increased. The way the study was designed, I was unable to separate the effects of low canopy cover and the presence of water on the variables measured. It would have been good to have been able to identify additional sites with low canopy cover and no water, and high canopy cover and water and measure fern growth at these sites. Following the completion of this study, I have a far greater appreciation of collecting ecological data and the importance of randomization. It would have been much easier for me to identify an area with lots of ferns and just measure the ferns that looked big and healthy which would have biased results. Instead, I had to set up a method to randomly select ferns to measure, and as a result, there was far greater variation in the data collected, but I feel it represents an unbiased sampling of the population. Like the study of any science, bias is very difficult to avoid, especially when you are “looking” for a specific result, so the sampling techniques are so important in generating credible data.

Blog 2 – Sources of Scientific Information

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The source of scientific information that I chose for this assignment is an article from Nature (cited below). This is an academic paper because it has in-text citations and a references section. The website for Nature states that articles are peer-reviewed (https://www.nature.com/authors/policies/peer_review.html). Also, the article has different dates for when it was received, accepted and published.

Soliveres, S., van der Plas, F., Manning, P., Prati, D., Gossner, M., Renner, S., Alt, F., Arndt, H., Baumgartner, V., Binkenstein, J., et al. (2016). Biodiversity at multiple trophic levels is needed for ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature [Internet]. [cited 2018 May 31]; 536: 456-459. Available from: http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/articles/nature19092

Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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My project is meant to demonstrate the relative abundance of individuals between different areas corresponding to an environmental gradient, as well as the species diversity/richness within those areas. The three areas have varying degrees of available water and human manipulation, with the bird sanctuary having relatively minor interaction with humans and being situated so that the land and vegetation is directly beside a large lake and with some of that water being protected by a rock wall of sorts. The meadow/park has much vegetation, and is regularly used by humans, however, is a good mix between the sanctuary and a completely urban area. There is no standing body of water here, but the lawns are watered daily, providing ample moisture to the vegetative areas of the meadow and park. The residential buildings are constantly busy with human traffic and have completely changed the landscape that was once there, and there is little to no vegetation in this area as the grass is synthetic, meaning that the water supply here is low.

 

My hypothesis is that there will be varying relative abundances and species diversity within the three areas, possibly based on the amount of human activity and water supplies within the sites. As many insects breed and reside in moist areas, it is probable that there will be lower abundances in areas with decreased available water.

 

Keywords: Species richness, relative abundance, environmental gradient.

Post 1: Observations

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Island Lake is located in Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area in the Thompson-Nicola Jurisdiction outside Kamloops, BC. The site can only be accessed via walking trail as motorized vehicles are prohibited in the area. This lake and surrounding bodies of water are breeding sites for waterfowl such as ducks, coots, and scaups.  I chose a study area that is approximately one square kilometer of rolling hills around the perimeter of the lake. The vegetation in this area ranges from wetland reeds to grasses, sagebrush, and cacti. There are various species of wildflowers, some bushes, and a few trees. These plants appear to grow in patterns along the hills, with reeds growing in the valleys, grasses and flowers on the hillsides, and sagebrush and cacti on the peaks. The bushes, I noticed, were growing in well defined lines in areas where I presume rainwater collects.

Looking west over the lake

Looking south over the lake

 

Field Journal Page

My first visit to the site was on May 18, 2018 at 15:00. It was sunny with some cloud cover and 23 degrees Celsius, which is normal spring weather for this region. After initial observations, my questions are as follows:

  • How is elevation affecting the distribution of plants here? (Factors to consider are soil moisture, wind, and sun exposure)
  • What causes the distribution patterns of a particular (unidentified) species of bush in this area? Is it following watershed?
  • Why are cacti present on some hills but not others? (Competition? Soil moisture?)

Bush distribution at lower elevations

Near-barren hilltop overlooking the lake

 

Post 6: Data Collection

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For my field data collection activities, I have been sampling three sites, being a bird sanctuary, a meadow/park, and a residential condo complex, for insect species composition and relative abundance. My experimental design was set up so each sampling period would last three days (72 hours), with there being three sampling periods in total. Sticky cards with strong adhesive are being used to trap the insects, and at the end of three days, the cards are collected and replaced. There are six cards per site, with each card being no less than 8 meters apart.

 

I have not experienced many problems while implementing my experiment, however, I have found that occasionally the insect traps do go missing. As all three of the sites are areas accessible to the public and potential wildlife, it is not surprising that some of the traps get disturbed or moved from their original position. I have tried to place traps in areas that are not easily visible from the pedestrian paths as a result. One issue I think I may have going forward with this project is species identification of insects that are small or lack easily distinguishable identifiers. I will use identification keys to determine the number of species within the area as accurately as possible, but may not include all species names in my final report if my confidence in the accuracy of identification is low.

 

So far, the data collection is reflecting my predictions, however, more sampling will need to be performed to be sure.

Sources of Scientific Information

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My chosen source is very relevant to the area which I have chosen to observe/study (see Blog Post 1). It is entitled “Environmental History of a Garry Oak/Douglas-Fir Woodland on Waldron Island, Washington” (Dunwiddie et al., 2011), and viewable at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3955/046.085.0205. This represents peer-reviewed research, as it is published in a peer-reviewed journal (Northwest Science), and the authors present original research, including their study site, methods used, results, and a through discussion of their findings.

Blog Post 1, Observations

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My chosen area of study is a Garry oak and Douglas-fir ecosystem, typical of south-facing exposures on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf islands. It is located on the north side of Cowichan Bay near the city of Duncan, on a ~45%, SSW aspect and ~90 meters above sea level. Ample groundwater flow during the rainy season tapers to drought conditions with only a few weeks of no rain. Bedrock is exposed in areas, and average soil thickness likely between 0.5 and 1 meter. This area does not have any specific designation (it is private property) though there is an ecological preserve to the west. Note that due to this site being below my house, one could say that my visitation of this site is ongoing!

Figure 1: Study site.

 Figure 2: section of Garry oak forest with Douglas-fir. Though not visible, this fir is gradually losing its needles from the top down.

Across southern Vancouver Island, Garry oak ecosystems are declining in area as the more vigorous (but less drought and fire resistant) Douglas-fir outcompetes the oaks and as non-native grasses, shrubs and vines overtake meadows. There are also exceedingly few Gary oak seedlings or young trees anywhere. Two questions arise from these observation:

  •  Why have I observed so few Garry oak seedlings?
  •  What is the impact of non-native vs. native grasses and shrubs on Garry oak propagation and competition?

However, I’ve also noticed in recent years a pattern of Douglas-fir trees dying for unknown reasons, in areas which had historically likely been Gary oak ecosystems (due to lack of water, aspect, and ease of fire progression). This is evident in the immediate study area outline above, as well as throughout the broader hillside. Provided that my observation is indeed correct (and not incidental) and that there is an increase in Douglas-fir mortality on dry, south aspects, my final question is:

  • What is/are the causes of this increase in Douglas-fir mortality? (Some possible causes: Increased summer temperatures, changes in timing and amount of precipitation, pathogen, etc)

Post 5: Design Reflections

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For my project, I am sampling from three different sites that contain varying amounts of water, with the sites being a bird and wildlife sanctuary, a meadow and park, and a residential condo complex. I want to determine the insect abundance and species composition between the sites, and also explore the hypothesis that the amount of available water in a given area determines the density of individuals and the abundance of species. Insects were caught on sticky traps consisting of a thick paper card and double sided tape and then placed in individual plastic bags. Using a magnifying glass, the number of identifiable species were counted, and the total number of individuals was counted. Five sticky traps were placed in each location, at a variety of heights so as to account for both flying and crawling insects. The only trouble I had with implementing my sampling method was the worry, as all three locations were regularly visited by humans, that others would remove the cards. So far, this situation has not occurred. The data I collected was surprising only in that I thought more insects, in general, would be present on the traps. When collecting data again, I decided to use more heavy duty traps with stickier adhesive in order to account for insects that are stronger and able to escape the trap. I also decided to increase the time that the traps were left out from 24 hours to 72 hours (~ 3 days).