The area I have selected to observe is an area of interest/traditional value for the Syilx Nation People (Okanagan Nation) In the Syilx Nation we are fortunate to have very diverse ecosystems and low to high elevations. The area I have chosen is endangered and affected by natural disturbances and is very valuable for traditional medicines and foods.
In this study I will look at the four areas of interest, The Canopy (IDF), Grasslands, Meadow and The Riparian Area.
Possible questions for my study
What is the Current Plant Community? What is the Desired Plant Community (CPC, DPC)
What are the affects of Cattle grazing on this ecosystem?
What is the current status of the traditional foods/medicines for the Syilx People?
The source I decided to look at is entitled Positive plant and bird diversity response to experimental deer population reduction after decades of uncontrolled browsing (2016) by Simon Chollet et. al, a study that took place in the forests of Haida Gwaii.
There are in-text citations and an extensive bibliography, and the authors all come from either the University of Montpellier, the University of Ottawa, or the National Wildlife Research Centre, so it is safe to assume they are experts in the field, which al signifies that this is academic material.
In the acknowledgments section the authors gave thanks to the three anonymous referees, which gives evidence that it was peer reviewed.
There are sections for methods and results which tells us that this is research material rather than review material.
This study was really interesting and took place over 13 years. The authors found that when they culled the black-tailed deer, native plant communities increased in both richness and percent cover and birds that were dependent on understory vegetation increased.
Chollet, S., Padié, S., Stockton, S., Allombert, S., Gaston, A., Martin, J., & Larson, B. (2016). Positive plant and bird diversity response to experimental deer population reduction after decades of uncontrolled browsing. Diversity and Distributions, 22(3), 274-287. doi:10.1111/ddi.12393
I completed my data collection over 2 days, and got 22 replicate counts of the bushes coming up the hill from the creek. It was fairly treacherous in the deep snow, and I found that there were a lot of short plants that could not easily be counted. In addition, the snow also limited the sampling area, so I was only able to collect from two sites around the creek. Ultimately, I was able to sample approximately a quarter of the creek hillside. I recruited my partner to help me count, and it was really helpful because we could compare our numbers and discuss any discrepancies.
I was surprised to find that the number of brush bushes increased almost to the top of the hillside, and then dropped off quickly at the top. I’m not sure if this is caused by a previous disturbance on the hillside (it borders two roads and has possibly been sprayed or mowed to ease road maintenance). I haven’t analyzed any data yet, so I will have to wait and see what I see, but there definitely appears to be a relationship between the distance from the creek and the number of brush plants.
Getting exact distance measurements from the creek proved to be very challenging, and took some practice. Ultimately, I’m very happy with the sampling strategy I chose for this. Using the line count method was a lot faster than trying to set up area counts, especially since the bushes are quite large. I used 0.5m on either side of the measuring rope, which still allowed me to measure the number of bushes per square meter for each of the quadrats.
The article I found, “Paleoecology and fire history of garry oak ecosystems in Canada: implications for conservation and environmental management”, is an academic, peer-reviewed research material.
I first determined whether the source is academic or non-academic by considering the following criteria:
was the material written by an expert?
Are there in-text citations?
Is there a bibliography?
The authors, Pellatt, McCoy and Mathewes are all experts in their field. Pellatt is the Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate at Parks Canada. McCoy and Mathewes are both scientists at Simon Fraser University, in the Department of Biological Science. There are in-text citations and a bibliography. Therefore, the source is academic.
The next criteria separate peer-reviewed academic sources, from non peer-reviewed academic sources. A peer-reviewed academic source has been reviewed by at least 1-4 reviewers. The article has been reviewed by 2 anonymous reviewers. Therefore, the article is a peer-reviewed academic source.
The final criteria distinguishes peer-reviewed source research from peer-reviewed source reviews. Peer-reviewed academic research material contains a methods and results section. Pellatt et al (2015) contains a methods or results section. Therefore, it is an academic, peer-reviewed research material.
Pellatt, M. G., McCoy, M. M., & Mathewes, R. W. (2015). Paleoecology and fire history of Garry oak ecosystems in Canada: implications for conservation and environmental management. Biodiversity and Conservation, 24(7), 1621-1639. doi:10.1007/s10531-015-0880-1
I will be conducting my field research at Beacon Hill Park, a designated city park in Victoria, BC. When Victoria was settled in 1843, Beacon Hill park was a completely natural area. Beacon Hill Park was reserved as a park by the city of Victoria in 1858. Although some of the park has experienced human alterations through the planting of flower beds, construction of a water park and petting zoo, much of the park still features its natural ecosystem. Most notably, the park protects a native Garry Oak ecosystem. The park features several ecosystems, including grasslands, forested areas and a man-made lake. The highest elevation of the park is approximately 40m above sea level.
Date of observations: January 4 2018
Time of day: 4:15pm
Weather: 4˚C, wind 14km/h from the northeast. Clear skies. Sun was just about to set at 4:32pm.
Area of park: ~0.62 km2
Seasonality: winter
For my field study, I decided to select 3 locations to make observations. Each location features a different ecosystem.
Figure 1: Aerial map of Beacon Hill Park
Location 1: Forest near the “world’s tallest totem pole”
GPS coordinates:
48.408699, -123.358520
The forested area near the “world’s tallest totem pole” features a network of human footpaths through a forest of deciduous and coniferous trees. This location had the most-dense vegetation and the most evidence of decomposition. Many plants surrounded the trees including bushes that had lost their leaves, brown, tall grasses and short green grass. One of the bushes had white berries, leading me to believe it was a snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). I found evidence of herbivory in dry, brown leaves that covered the forest floor. One small bird was spotted during my observations. Lichen was present on tree trunks. Garbage from humans was also present.
Figure 2: Vegetation along footpath
Figure 3: Snowberry bush Symphoricarpos albus
Figure 4. Possible evidence of herbivory
Location 2: Top of Beacon Hill
GPS coordinates: 48.410488, -123.364813
The top of Beacon Hill has the highest elevation at the park, at 40m above sea level. The area includes an exposed, grassy region surrounded by what appeared to be Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) trees and arbutus (arbutus unedo) trees. The trees were bare of leaves, but the shed leaves had accumulated on the ground below. Some trees retained brown, dry leaves and these leaves showed evidence of herbivory by an insect. I noticed a Himalayan blackberry bush (Rubus armeniacus), which is a rampant invasive species all around Victoria. Similar “wheat” looking grasses were observed to the grasses at location 1. As well, the bush with the white “berries” (Symphoricarpos albus) was present.
Figure 5: Garry Oak
Figure 6: Arbutus tree
Location #3: Man-made stream ecosystem
GPS coordinates:
48.414201, -123.365927
The final location I will consider is a man-made stream ecosystem on the western edge of the park. Although most of the plants here were likely planted by humans, this area had the most biodiverse foliage. I observed the following vegetation:
-ferns
-coniferous tree with very soft needles. This tree was the tallest of the trees I observed anywhere in the park and had the widest diameter.
-deciduous tree
-leafy ground plant
-a large shrub close to the stream’s edge
-moss on rocks
Ducks were heard, but not seen. The ground was covered in a brown “mulch”. The stream flowed at a medium rate into a relatively large man-made lake.
Figure 7: Man-made stream
Figure 8: soft needles
Potential research questions:
What impact does elevation have on number of species, growth rate of vegetation and microclimate?
How do bird species respond to man-made structures, such as the man-made stream ecosystem, in comparison to natural wetland ecosystems?
Which location experiences the most insect herbivory and why?
My sampling strategy was to use a 12m measuring rope to count the number of big sagebrush and green rabbitbrush along the hillsides coming up from Guerin Creek. I counted the number of plants within a 3m segment of rope, extending 0.5m on either side of the rope to give a 3m2 quadrat.
Sampling this number of quadrats was very doable, in total there were 8 unique lines measured and bushes counted and it took one hour. In implementing my sampling strategy, a few things went differently than planned. First, I misjudged the depth of the creek valley, so ended up with double the distance I was expecting to cover. My rope wasn’t designed for more than 12m of measurement, so I only measured the initial 12m as planned, and then counted bushes from an elevation of 12m to the top of the hillside. Additionally, there were between 15-30cm of snow cover, depending on the hillside. This prevented the counting of any young bushes, therefore only mature bushes grater than 40cm high were included in the count.
The data I collected was close to what I expected after doing some research (table 1). The intital 3m are likely flooded in the spring, and so there were few established brush plants right creekside. The number of plants actually then increased all the way to 12m, so clearly they are able to germinate and grow that far from the water table. However, there were 6.67 sagebrush plants per m between 9-12m; while from 12-45m there were only 1.13 bushes per m. When I take another sample I will include measures from 12-18m, 18-24m, 24-30m and 30-36m from the creekbed. This will help elucidate more information about how far above the water table the bushes thrive. Rabbitbrush is much less frequent on the hillsides, so it’s accuracy may not be as good as the big sagebrush measures.
I will need to sample around the entire creek, since there were significant differences between the topography of the two hillsides. The bushes in the second site were nearly double the size and the hillside was very steep compared to Site 1.
Table 1. Mean number of sagebrush and rabbitbrush bushes counted at various elevations from the Guerin Creek bed at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC.
Conducting my field project did present a number of challenges, but none of them were insurmountable. As my project progressed and I researched relevant literature, I broadened my hypotheses. Originally, I was focussed on competition but as I did more reading, the importance of facilitation within forested communities became part of my study. This feels like valuable knowledge and I’m already looking at forests and plants in a different light.
There were no issues with implementing the project, although I did try both randomized and strategic experimental designs before settling on a strategic one.
Certainly engaging in practicing ecology has increased my appreciation for it. One thing that struck me was how challenging it must be for ecologists to relate the significance of their findings to resource planners, managers, the public, and policy makers. Obviously there is a big disconnect here or our policies would be better aligned with the alterations to the planet’s ecosystems that are occuring.
Overall an excellent and well-designed course. Now I just have to get the last few pages of my final report finished up!
My field research presented many challenges including needing to broaden my hypothesis, problems with the weather, and difficulties carrying out my methods. Many changes were made to account for the problems I encountered to make my project stronger. I have learned a lot of respect for the amount of time and energy that goes into standing in the snow and rain to observe ecological aspects of the study.
For one of my figures, I utilized a graph to show the average density of Northwestern Crows in each of the selected survey points. The graph highlights that as you move along the gradient from no anthropogenic disturbance to a high disturbance rate there will be more crows. The outcome was exactly as I expected with a large number of crows present in urbanized areas. The graph was consistent with lots of other research regarding the same general premise that crows are very good at exploiting urbanized areas.
Well, where do I begin?! I have learned so much in this course & I am very grateful to Nancy for her ability to teach me new concepts through the difficult interface of distance learning. I am thankful for the insight & feedback provided to me throughout this course.
I chose Community & Ecosystem Ecology as my first correspondence course through TRU with multiple factors in mind; The course sounded unique & interesting and I was hopeful it would give me a better understanding of the natural world & how it functions. I have not been disappointed. By designing & learning how to do an actual hands-on field research project, I now have some new skills & a richer overall appreciation for what ecologists & scientists in related fields carry out on a regular basis. I appreciate even more so that it is absolutely critical to support our scientists & their development of ecological theory as our planet & all of its inhabitant’s head into a relatively uncertain future.
With regard to my field research project- at first I did run into a few challenges. The location I chose to conduct my field research project is a place I attend every single day. It only made sense that I would take my daily observations & the resulting questions I had about the site & put them into a project for analysis. Well as it turned out, I couldn’t decide on exactly what I wanted to know, or how I was to ask the question, or develop any type of hypothesis…in the end, I finally decided on observing abundance of individual plant species located in two sites within the borders of same park, and I feel that I chose the right project to focus on.
Because of this course & the knowledge & skills that I have since acquired, I have been inspired to conduct multiple field research samples throughout the year, since I will be on site every day anyhow, and I will record the data into bar graphs to observe the results. I am very curious to know if I will find any type of decline or increase in plant abundance throughout different parts of the year, or, if the temperature here in Victoria holds steady enough to support the same plants years round? It should be interesting to see, & something I am looking forward to!
Good luck to all, thanks again Nancy, & here’s to a happy & healthy 2018!!
