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Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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Keizer, P. S., Gajewski, K., & Mcleman, R. (2015). Forest dynamics in relation to multi-decadal late-Holocene climatic variability, eastern Ontario, Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology,219, 106-115. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.04.001

The source that I chose is from an online database. The title of the article is Forest Dynamics in Relation to Multi-Decadal Late-Holocene Climatic Variability, Eastern Ontario, Canada. I have determined that this is an Academic, peer reviewed research article as the authors of this paper are experts in the field. Furthermore, there are in-text citations used throughout the paper, and a reference list with the sources used are provided at the end of the paper, which informs me that the material used in the paper is from academic sources. As this paper has also been reviewed by at least one referee prior to publication, and thus I was able to determine that it is a peer-reviewed paper. In addition, the authors report methods and details regarding how data was collected, as well as results, thus informing the readers that it is in fact research material.

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The area that I have selected to observe is a portion of a community park in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, called Milliken District Park. The total area of this park is approximately 32 hectares. It is located northeast of Scarborough at coordinates 43.8292° N, 79.2708° W. The park has many paved trails, a large pond, and numerous trees. There is a forest found near the pond. Most of the trees found in this park are mature.

Majority of the area is flat, but there are some hills. There is a rather large pond that which houses many birds, swans and fishes. Looking into the pond I could see an accumulation of litter, and the water quality seems poor.

The park contains landscaped gardens, gazeboes and different water features. There are also three playgrounds, a splash pad, and a large field where people usually play sports. I often visit this area weekly on walks, as there is a nice paved path around and inside the park, providing individuals with an area to bike, rollerblade, and walk. My initial observations and data collection of the park was made on 26 April 2017 from 6:07pm to 8:34pm. It was a sunny but windy day, with the temperature being around 12oC. During the collection period, there were many children playing in the playground. There were some birds and black squirrels that I saw in the forest, and throughout the park.

The area is mostly covered in green grass and trees. There are mixtures of deciduous and coniferous trees present throughout the park. Around the pond and the forest I noticed more wild type vegetation growth (sedges, weeds, etc). As this is a community park, roads and houses surround the park, but there is a clear distinction through the use of fences and gates.

Based on my observations, three questions that are interesting and could form the subject of my research project are:

  1. How does the pond have an impact on the vegetation and plant distribution surrounding it?
  2. How do humans impact the land, especially with regards to plant distribution?
  3. Not everything present in this park is natural, much of it is manmade, and thus, how does this impact plant distribution and the adaptation of the animal species that reside in the area?

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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On my bookshelf at work we have a number of volumes from Restoration Ecology – The Journal of the Society for Ecological Restoration. Within volume 20, Number 5, September 2012 I chose the following research article: How does the Restoration of Native Canopy Affect Understory Vegetation Composition? Evidence from Riparian Communities of the Hunter Valley Australia.

This manuscript classifies as academic, peer-reviewed research material for the following reasons:

The source is academic material because:

  • It was written by experts in the field. The authors of the article are Carla J. Harris1, Michelle R. Leishman1, Kristie Fryirs2, and Garreth Kyle1,3 and are members of the 1Department of Biological Science at Macquarie University, the 2Department of Environment and Geography at Macquarie University, or the 3Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research.
  • There are in-text citations throughout the document.
  • There is a Literature Cited section.

It was peer-reviewed by two anonymous referees as indicated in the “Acknowledgements” section.

It is research material as indicated by both a “Methods” and a “Results” section within the manuscript.

Reference:

Harris, C.J., M.R. Leishman, K. Fryirs, and G. Kyle. 2012. How does the restoration of native canopy   affect understory vegetation composition? evidence from riparian communities of the hunter valley Australia. Restoration Ecology 20:584-592.

Blog Post 1: Observations

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Field Research Project – Site Visit #1

  • Recorder: Brian Titaro
  • Location: Surrey Bend Regional Park, Surrey, British Columbia
  • Visit Date: 09-06-2017
  • Visit Time: 14:45
  • Weather: Smokey skies from forest fires, no wind, 25oC

My field research project location will be Surrey Bend Regional Park (SBRP) located in Surrey, British Columbia on the south shore of the Fraser River. Surrey Bend is managed by the Metro Vancouver Regional District and is 348 hectares in size. SBRP consists of 5km un-dyked shoreline, medium bench floodplain ecosystems, and the third largest relatively undisturbed bog in the region. Nearly 80% of the park is closed to public access and within the accessible area there are three main ecological communities in which I will perform my study.

Surrey Bend Regional Park

The first is the Entrance Area (49.195301oo  N, 122.728121o W) characterized by mowed grass fields, gravel parking lots, and old field habitat. The dominate vegetation includes Achillea millefolium, Lupinus spp., Secale cereal, Anaphalis margaritacea, and Grindelia stricta and ornamental Acer spp.

Entrance Area

The second site is an open Wetland Complex (49.198919o N, 122.730074o W ) with man-made sloughs built by the Transportation Investment Corporation (TICorp) as a compensation projection for the fisheries damage that took place during the construction of the Port Mann Bridge. The wetlands are dominated by Phalaris arundinacea and Spiraea douglasii, interspersed with small Picea sitchensis, Rubus spectabilis, and Alnus rubra that were planted as a re-vegetation project.

Wetland Complex

The third site is a dense, closed canopy Riparian Forest along the Fraser River (49.199970o N, 122.727928o W). The dominate tree species are Populus trichocarpa, Picea sitchensis and Alnus rubra, with Symphoricarpos albus, Rubus spectabilis, and Acer circinatum making up the shrub layer, and Rubus ursinus covering the forest floor.

Riparian Forest

After visiting the site, the topics I’m interested in further researching would be:

  1. Does the bird species diversity change between the three ecosystems listed above?
  2. What fish species are using the recently constructed sloughs and are there features within the sloughs to which they are attracted?
  3. Which of the three ecosystems listed above hosts the largest diversity of non-native, invasive plant species?

Blog Post # 9: Field Research Reflections

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I found my data did not entirely support what I initially thought was going to happen. Although fruit quality was better on the plum tree, it did not produce as many plums as I thought a healthy tree would. I also had a hard time finding papers that related to my research in a way that would make sense.

After finishing my field research there are a few things I would change if I were to do it again. Firstly, I would make this research study longer, and instead of starting in the summer I would start to implement my procedure and data starting in the spring, as the blossoming period should also be considered in determining the results.

I think instead of using fruit trees, I would use tomato plants and start entirely from scratch, and plant the seeds myself, still using the same parameters and observing the final fruit quality and yield. That way, I would have control over all aspects of the study and my results would be very close to completely accurate.

If I were to use fruit trees, I would consider netting off the trees early, before fruit development, as birds and other animals were eating the fruit (the cherries seemed to be a fan favourite).

I would say doing this research has definitely changed my appreciation for how ecological theory is developed. To be honest I thought ecology was quite boring before I took the class, but actually engaging in a minor activity has really made me see how hard ecology is and how long and tedious a study can be. Some studies I read took at least a year to collect data! I couldn’t imagine doing my field research for that long. I appreciate the dedication and hard work ecologists put in to their process of developing an ecological theory, not always knowing answers and having to conduct studies to sometimes not get very far in research. It was a great course and I feel like I am slightly more knowledgeable now, and no longer think ecology is boring!

Blog Post # 8: Tables and Graphs

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There was no difficulty organizing my data, although I had to decide if it would be best to do a bar graph or a line graph. In the end I went with a bar graph as that was the most familiar graph for me. The outcome was actually not quite as I had expected. I had initially assumed there would be more fruit on the plum tree as opposed to the other two trees but that did not seem to be the case here. In considering water stress alone, one might think that the idea of drought affecting fruit growth negatively is utterly untrue. That is why I chose to do further research on why these results were not what I had predicted and came across a few interesting explanations. Below is a table of all the weeks I counted fruit. The dashes under the Cherry Tree mean that during the 6th-12th week, there was no fruit on the tree as it had finished its harvest point.

Week 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Cherry 10 30 45 57 57 – – – – – – –
Pear 5 16 30 36 45 57 65 72 75 79 80 80
Plum 0 0 6 12 20 29 31 33 36 37 39 39

 

 

Post 9 – Field Research Reflections

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When I first visited my research site I thought I would find numerous ideas to research. I did, but when I sat down to try and sort out how to design the experiments I felt overwhelmed. There are many variables and factors that play into field research. I chose the pond idea because it seemed less complicated than my other ideas, but it turned out to be quite difficult to implement. I was a bit disappointed when my original plan of sampling deeper into the pond wouldn’t work, leading me to simplify things. I found out that what seems like a workable plan on paper doesn’t always work in the field, but I designed, revised, and carried it out as best I could.

In the end the data didn’t support my prediction, although my research into the subject supports it. The experiment could be improved with a larger sample size, stratified random sampling deeper in the pond, and identifying each insect species, as some seem to be more prevalent in certain areas of the pond with more or less plant density.

I have a greater appreciation for field research and all the effort that goes into planning and executing the experiment while keeping it unbiased, random, and credible. I have found some of the ecological theory in the course more difficult to grasp than I expected. I have more respect for the scientists and ecologists that devote their careers to research!

Blog Post 8 – Tables and Graphs

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My data has been difficult to put into a graph and summarize. The outcome was not what I had expected or predicted. This is in regards to the aquatic insect numbers increasing with number of plants. Plotting number of plants against number of aquatic insects created a random scatter plot with no real trend line.

The one relationship I can see is plotted in the graph above, but difficult to see without some explanation. Transects 1-5 has the most consistent amount of plant growth, while 6-12 have lower plant growth that is more sporadic. Transects 1-5 have higher number of insect species versus transects 6-12 (the transects are located across a shoreline from every 4’ from 1-12). Transect 7 and 9 throw things off a bit, since they have high plant numbers but lower levels of insect species. My thought is that the transects next to them have fewer plants, so more insects may gravitate towards the area of denser plants, transects 1-5. It’s possible some of the species may only stay in areas of more plant density.

As I stated in my last blog post 6, breaking the pond into plant densities on a larger scale, and random sampling each of those areas, would be a better design along with identification of each species.

Blog Post 7 – Theoretical Perspectives

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In my blog posts I often used the word dispersal. I used it as a broad term to describe where organisms are found in a pond. The focus on my project was on habitat. The underlying factors for habitat could include food, protection from predators, competition, and reproduction among others. Some abiotic factors may also come into play such as light, temperature, and water depth. I think one ecological process it touches upon is patches on a small scale. The pond consists of different habitat patches of various sizes and composition that influence how aquatic insects are dispersed around the pond. Edges of the habitats also come into play and influence the movement of the insects around the pond. In terms of my own research project gradient could also come into play as my transect line ran along changes in plant density.

Three basic words to describe my research project are pond, aquatic insects, dispersal.

Post 5: Design Reflections

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After collecting this initial field data, I realize that I might have to expand my site to include beaches along the same coast. Farlow’s seaweed seems to grow very well when it is on its own in a tidepool. However, Farlow’s seaweed doesn’t seem to grow in many tide pools with higher diversity. To collect a large enough sample size, I might need to continue down the coast to visit more tidepools. A larger sample size will give me a more “solid” conclusion.

In addition to this, when collecting samples, the seaweed could not be completely taken off the rock. A small portion of its base remained strongly attached. The seaweed that was collected also contained other organisms. I separated the larger ones that would make a significant difference in the weighing but the smaller ones remain attached.

The major problem I encountered was that my scale only works in whole numbers so my precision is limited. I ended up having to weigh multiple samples at once in order to make the samples weighable. The samples less than one gram in weight were not detected by my scale.

The data that I’ve collected so far is not surprising. It does follow my initial hypothesis.