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Blog Post 5: Design Reflections

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Blog Post 5: Design Reflections

 

My initial data collection took place July 14/19 at 13:00 hours. I used 5 replicates of 1m2 quadrats with locations chosen using a simple random scheme. The response variable was % coverage of species within the quadrat and the predictor variable is elevation along the slope. To determine the % coverage of each species within each quadrat, area was calculated using measurements from a tape measure, compared to the entire area of the quadrat, and converted to a percentage. The only difficulty I found with this method was that it can sometimes be difficult to get accurate measurements for the irregular shape of plants. My data indicated that less complex plant species (ferns and clover) were more abundant near the base of the slope, and I began to find more complex species (Saskatoon berry) at higher elevations. I was not surprised by these results. I predicted that complexity of species along the elevation gradient would increase. This was because I figured that the hedges on the opposite side of the field would block sunlight from reaching plants at lower elevations, leaving them without enough access to the resource, resulting in stunted development. I will continue to use this method of data collection as I determine % coverage at higher elevations.

Blog Post 4: Sampling Stategies

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Blog Post 4: Sampling Strategies

 

I sampled the Snyder-Middleswarth Natural area using area-based systematic, random, and haphazard methods. The technique with the fastest sampling time was the area-based systematic approach with a sampling time of 12 hours, 5 minutes, while random and haphazard techniques had sampling times of 12 hours 34 minutes, and 12 hours 36 minutes, respectively. The least abundant species showed the most accuracy in results, White Pine had a 0% error for two different methods, random and haphazard sampling strategies. In general, the area-based random sampling technique was the most accurate for each species. Area based systematic sampling showed the least accuracy in results. Below is a list of percent error for the two most rare species, Red Maple and White Pine, as well as the most common, Eastern Hemlock and Sweet Birch, for each sampling strategy.

 

Area Based Systematic:

Eastern Hemlock-45.4%

Sweet Birch-20.6%

Red Maple-82.5%

White Pine-50.0%

 

Area Based Random:

Eastern Hemlock-9.1%

Sweet Birch-6.38%

Red Maple-1.85%

White Pine-0%

 

Area Based Haphzard:

Eastern Hemlock-25.0%

Sweet Birch-6.38%

Red Maple-22.6%

White Pine-0%

Blog Post #4

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Sampling Theory Using Virtual Forests

I completed the Community Sampling Exercise on the Snyder-Middleswarth Natural Area and received the results from 3 different types of surveys to compare.  The systematic-area method produced the shortest estimated sample time of 12 hours and 6 minutes.  A quick calculation comparing the estimated density data with the actual data revealed the systematic-area method had a percent error of 28.7%, while random sampling had a percent error of 11.8% and haphazard sampling demonstrated the greatest accuracy rate at 11.6%.  The percent error for the Striped Maple was 2.1%, and the White Pine was 14.4% both which are rare species.  The common species were Easter Hemlock 6.2% and the Sweet Birch had a percent error of 5.4 %.

The most accurate way to measure both the common species and the rare species was the haphazard method. The accuracy declined with the rare species as some of the rare species were not detected by some of the sample strategies. This leads me to believe 24 sample points did not cover enough ground to accurately represent the rare species.  While 24 was adequate to represent the common species, I would recommend increasing the sample points for greater accuracy of the rare species.

Blog Post 1: Observations

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The area that I have selected to observe for my Field Study project is my backyard, located in southwest Calgary, near Stanley park. I chose this area because it will remain easily accessible throughout the span of this project. My backyard is approximately 54 m2, and is composed mainly of grass and fenced off garden areas on the North, East and West sides of the yard. There are alternating columnar aspen (Populus tremula ‘Erecta’)and bakeri spruce trees (Picea pungens ‘Bakeri’)on the east side of the fence, providing the majority of shade in the yard during the summer months. There is another columnar aspen as well as a Japanese lilac tree (Syringa reticulata) which also account for the shade in the yard during the day. Other plants featured in the gardens include: spirea (Spiraea), lemongrass (Cymbopogon)and pink and white rose bushes (Rosa).

 

I took observations on June 17th, 2019, in the midst of summer, from 5:11 pm to 6:00 pm. There was a bit of overcast with thunderclouds approaching from the North; the temperature was 23 degrees Celsius. During my visit, my first observation was the very prominent moss growth along the South and East sides of the yard, where the grass gets the most shade, and the patches where my dog chooses to urinate. This causes dead patches, where the moss is found. I noticed an area of what I believe to be rotten moss, and I am curious to figure out the cause of such a small affected area that is surrounded by live, healthy moss. Another interesting observation was a small area of grass where the blades of grass are partly white in colour.  I discovered plenty of ants making their way up and down the columnar aspens, and upon further inspection, I noticed that these ants are burrowing holes into the bark. I also spotted many ants surrounding an ant hill underneath a rose bush close by.

 

These observations made during my first visit to this area have sparked a few questions that I wish to look into:

 

  1. Based off my observation of the selective moss growth on the South and East sides of the yard, I am wondering if shade, moisture, and bare soil/dead grass are the main factors contributing to the abundance of moss in these areas. I am also eager to figure out the cause of what I believe to be rotting moss in a small area near the fence.
  2. The ants crawling up and down the columnar aspen trees were something I’ve never seen before. Do these two organisms partake in a symbiotic relationship? If so, which type?
  3. I am curious to figure out the cause of the white blades of grass in a small area under the Japanese lilac tree. Could this be from an applied chemical or is this a natural occurrence?

BLOG POST 2

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I chose the book of K. Fredrick for the analysis of heavy metals in soils and their influence on the envrionment. The book titled ‘Assessing the impacts of Climate Change on Natural Resource Systems’ was published by Springer Science & Business Media in 2012. The author from the biology department of University was K. Fredrick. This book is an academic piece because it is written by expert in the field (he represents University), it includes in text citations and a bibliography. This suggests that the book is peer-reviewed as it went through a revision process. The book lists a materials and methods section and a results section detailing the research that was conducted. This book is therefore a research piece. As a result, this book constitutes an academic, peer-reviewed material. It helped me a lot to understand different categories of heavy metals and their management in soil. Moreover, I got acquainted with such terms as pollutants and heavy metals in detail.

 

Frederick, K. 2012. Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Natural Resource Systems. Springer Science & Business Media.

BLOG POST 1

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The object of my study is the soil cover of the reference area near my house. Soil samples for heavy metal content were taken at a profile depth of 0-10 cm and at a profile depth of 30-40 cm. Monitoring observations on polluted lands include field surveys, laboratory analysis, mapping lands (soils), and a summary of the materials obtained. In my opinion, the greatest danger to the soils of suburban lands is represented by atmospheric dust and gas dumps of industrial enterprises, with which waste is transported over long distances. I chose this topic because of the presence of active sources of p0llution and the nature of the structure of the surrounding soil cover. Considering the close relationship between the direction of the wind and the range of dust and gas transport before sampling, the direction of the prevailing winds in the area is specified at the nearest weather station. I used the azimuth method to determine sampling points. To identify patterns of horizontal and vertical migration of heavy metals, I chose key sites of the monitoring network that were located on flat, transit accumulative zones of slopes as well as floodplains on soils of different grain size. In this regard, the question arose about the organization of special observations of the state of the environment and its anthropogenic changes in order to assess, predict and timely warn about possible adverse effects, i.e. on the introduction of a permanent surveillance monitoring service

Blog Post 3: Ongoing Field Observations

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Blog Post 3: Ongoing Field Observations

 

I returned to my study site for the second time on July 12, 2019 at 19:00 h. The weather was overcast but not raining or windy. For my subject I have chosen to study a biological attribute of the area. I am interested in the change in species composition and species diversity along the elevation gradient of the slope. The response variable is the species diversity. One possible explanatory variable is the amount of sunlight which changes with rising elevation due to cedar hedges across the field from the slope causing shade. This data would be considered both categorical (presence or absence of certain species at specific elevations) and continuous (percent coverage of species at distinct elevations).

Location 1: The first location was at the base of the slope, 0 metres above the flat field. Ferns (Athyrium filix-femina), were the dominant species with approximately 80% coverage. These ferns were similar height, standing at 1 metre tall. These ferns were directly across the field from cedar hedges (Thuja occidentalis) that were around 5 metres tall. Other vegetation includes corn sow thistle, clover, and tall grasses. The clover looked desiccated despite frequent rainfall in the area.

Location 2: The second location was approximately 3 metres up the slope from the base. This area was dominated by Saskatoon berry bushes (Amelanchier alnifolia).  There were also 2-3 developing birch (Betula) and maple (Acer). This was the only location where I noticed there was a species of bird present. The height of these plants was approximately the same as the opposing hedges.

Location 3: The final location 10 metres from the base of the slope. Fully developed pine and birch trees were the dominant species. There was a minimal number of ferns but they were shorter than the ferns found at the base of the slope.

In an area with no blockage by the cedar hedges, there were several fully developed pine trees at base level.

 

My hypothesis is as follows: Plants need sufficient access to resources including nutrients, water, and sunlight. In the absence of any of these resources, plants may not develop into complex organisms. Therefore, the change in species composition and diversity may be attributed to the lack of sunlight to base level plants due to the taller cedar hedge rows.

 

My prediction is as follows: If the cedar hedges are taller than the developing plants across the field, then they will not have sufficient access to sunlight and will not be as complex or tall as the plants found at higher elevations with greater access to the sunlight.

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

 

For this post, I chose the article “Influence of repeated fertilization on forage production for native mammalian herbivores in young lodgepole pine forests” written by Pontus M.F. Lindgren and Thomas P. Sullivan, from the Web of Science database.  This article is academic, peer-reviewed, research material.

Academic: This article can be considered academic because it includes in-text citations: “Stand thinning and fertilization are silvicultural practices designed to sustain wood and biomass production on a shrinking forest landbase while concurrently creating a diversity of forest habitat conditions to meet the goals of biodiversity conservation (Moore and Allen, 1999; Hartley, 2002; Monkkonen et al., 2014).”, and a list of references. In addition, author Thomas Sullivan belongs to the Applied Biology and Forestry departments at UBC, while Lindgren holds a PhD from the Department of Forestry at UBC.

Peer-reviewed: I determined the article to be peer-reviewed because a search of the publishing journal “Forest Ecology and Management” on the Elsevier database detailed the peer-review process the journal uses for all articles. Also, the article shows a “Revised” date of February 27, 2018, one month before the publishing date of March 20, 2018.

Research material: The article contains both a methods and results section, showing that the authors carried out original research and recorded their findings.

 

 

Citation:

Lindgren, P. M., & Sullivan, T. P. (2018). Influence of repeated fertilization on forage production for native mammalian herbivores in young lodgepole pine forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 417, 265-280.

Blog Post 1: Observations

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Blog Post 1: Observations

The area I have chosen to study is a flat, grassy field that backs onto a relatively steep mountain slope in a suburban neighbourhood. The area including the entire field and a portion of the slope that I have chosen to study is approximately half of an acre in size. My first visit to the site was July 11, 2019 (considered to be summertime in Terrace, BC), in the early evening (6:00 pm). The weather was overcast, slightly raining, with a cool breeze. Vegetation in the area included ferns, tall grasses, pine and birch trees, clover, low lying plants with broad leaves and a red stem, Saskatoon berry bush.

Along the base of the slope, there looked to be a disproportionately higher number of ferns (Athyrium filix-femina). But at higher elevations, taller trees such as pine and birch appeared to be dominant. This inspired my first question, how and why does the species composition change along the elevation gradient?

I noticed approximately five individuals of a bird species with a brown and white speckled stomach. They could possibly be brown thrashers. The birds seemed to be perching mostly in the Saskatoon berry bushes. This led to my second question, were the birds perched here because they had made nests within the branches, or are the berries a food resource?

Another possible study subject is the berry bushes themselves. I found myself wondering whether the number of berries on each bush was the same, and if not, was this due to a lack of resources (water, sunlight, soil nutrients) on one side of the field compared to another?

Field Journal Notes

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.