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Blog Post 3: Ongoing Field Observations

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The organism I plan to study for the field research project are birds. On March 8, 2019 I observed bird species along Jack Pine Trail, a forested trail located in the Ottawa Greenbelt. I chose three locations along this trail based on the distance from the Moodie Drive.

I started my observations at Location 1 at 1000 hrs. The ambient temperature at the time was -11°C, it was sunny with no overcast. Initially, I was to identify species of bird both by visual observations as well as auditory. However, I was unable to identify species based on their calls, thus I decided against identifying species on auditory observations.

Location 1 yielded three species. Namely the Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), and the Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). This location was at the entrance to the trail and as such was a heavily trafficked area and was nearest to the adjacent highway (i.e., Moodie Drive); I observed significant noise pollution at this location. I left this location at 1015 hrs.

My observations at Location 2 began at 1017 hrs and ended at 1032 hrs. Location 2 only yielded one species. Namely the Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus). I observed some bird seed on the trail itself which may have attracted the species to this location.

My observations at Location 3 began at 1033 hrs and ended at 1048 hrs. Location 3 yielded the most species with a total of four observed. Namely the Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), the Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), and the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). The Black-Capped Chickadee was the most abundant with approximately eight individuals observed over a 15-minute period. Location 3 was the most diver location due to the bird feeder that was installed by a local not-for-profit organization.

As warming temperatures are on the horizon in this area it would be interesting to observe whether temperature fluctuations have an impact on bird diversity at Location 3. Although Location 3 is influenced by the bird feeder, I believe that results would be best observed at this location as there is a mechanism of attraction to observe as man bird species as possible.

As such, my hypothesis would be: Temperature influences the diversity of bird species on Jack Pine Trail. Thus the null hypothesis would be: Bird species diversity is not influenced by temperature.

Based on this hypothesis, my response variable would be the number of bird species observed while the explanatory variable would be ambient temperature. The number of bird species would be a discrete variable while temperature would be continuous.

Blog Post 6

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Marshlands Conservation Area Kingston, Ontario- Rideau Trail 1040-1430

09.12.18, -3 °C, clear skies, chilly, no snow but snow-covered ground,

just North of Lake Ontario; wedged between Little Cataraqui Creek to the West of the trail

and Cataraqui Golf and Country Club to the East.

Sampling Strategy: Stratified sampling (all ash trees within plots A-E; 25X25 foot plots). I used the same plots as my original field data.

I altered my data collection protocol since last time. Previously I had been looking for larval galleries/bark fissures. This did not seem to give my data definitive patterns, so I decided to look at other factors of emerald ash borer (EAB) presence too. The other indicator of emerald ash borers I noted was woodpecker foraging/d-shaped exit holes in the trees. I included a category for trees which displayed both larval galleries/fissures/bark deformities and woodpecker foraging/D-shaped exit holes. To prevent double counting trees in a plot, I brought along a piece of yellow chalk to mark which trees had been observed already. The number of replicates in each plot varied from 20-38 ash trees. One problem with my sampling design has been noticing signs of EAB presence up in the canopy. I tried my best to overcome this problem using binoculars though. I have noticed that ash saplings do not tend to be infested by emerald ash borer. It makes me wonder if the age of a tree is more relevant to predicting EAB presence as opposed to the density of ash trees within a plot.

Results:

Plot A 13 out of 25 trees were infected. 52% infection rate.

Plot B 20 out of 29 trees were infected. 69% infection rate.

Plot C 16 out of 20 trees were infected. 80% infection rate.

Plot D 14 out of 38 trees were infected. 36.8% infection rate.

Plot E 12 out of 23 trees were infected. 52.2% infection rate

 

Figure 1: Ash tree with bark splitting and EAB exit holes/woodpecker foraging

Figure 2: Ash saplings unaffected by EAB

Figure 3: Rideau Trail

Figure 4: Measuring tape used to delineate 25 foot borders of each plot

Blog Post 2: Sources of Scientific Information

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This study looked at the relationship between ten native bird species and habitat features at two spatial scales relevant to urban residential environments in Arizona. The goal of the study was to explore the interaction between land ownership, presence of bird species, habitat features, and spatial scale.

The authors are both associated with the School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona. The paper included both in-text citations, and a bibliography at the end of the paper making this an academic paper. There were three referees who reviewed and provided feedback on this paper, making it peer-reviewed literature. Finally, the paper included a methods and results sections making this paper research material.

 

McCaffrey, R.E. And Mannan, R.W. (2011). How scale influences birds’ responses to habitat features in urban residential areas. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105, 274-280.

Blog Post 5 – Design Reflections

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During my initial field data collection efforts at Terwillegar Park, I had no major difficulties implementing the stratified sampling strategy. However, the one difficulty I started to encounter was an increase presence of people and dogs in the park by the time I was finishing up the last point count locations. Due the increased presence of people and dogs present I was encountering disturbance during my 10 minutes of counting birds. Due too this disturbance I have opted to decrease the amount of time spent at each point count location to 5 minutes. I don’t anticipate that decreasing the time spent at each site will have a large effect on the study as I was noticing that I was counting most birds present within the first 5 minutes. Decreasing the time spent will allow me to ensure that each point count location is surveyed with no additional disturbance at the sites later in the morning.

Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

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Blog Post 7: Theoretical Perspectives

My research project examines the effect of human activity in suburban recreational areas. It specifically examines how dog walking in these parks effects squirrels by observing their abundance. The introduction of a natural predator, such as a domestic dog, can influence prey animals behaviours surrounding feeding, socialization, wariness, and breeding. This research could provide basic knowledge which could indicate areas for further research for wildlife conservation. Results from this study could provide evidence whether domestic dogs should be allowed in wildlife conservation areas depending on the degree of disturbance domestic dogs cause. If it is found that domestic dogs have a great effect on important behaviours of wildlife, further research could be done to identify how many species are affected. If protected species are found in further studies to be significantly affected in their ability to thrive in protected areas, limitations on where and when humans are permitted to walk their dogs could be put in place. Some keywords for my research paper should include wildlife disturbance, domestic dogs, suburbs.

Blog Post 5

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For my study, I am examining whether the density of ash trees (total number of trees) in a 25X25  foot plot is correlated the rate of infestation of emerald ash borer. To measure this I initially looked whether there are serpentine galleries in the bark of the trees or if there are fissures in the bark. I noted the total number of trees in each plot and the total number of trees that showed evidence of infestation.

Based on my initial data one issue I had was ensuring not to double count trees within the 5 plots which I was observing ash trees. I overcame this challenge by marking trees with pink chalk. Another challenge I had when looking at the bark for serpentine galleries or fissures was that the ash trees are quite tall so it is hard to notice either of these signs of emerald ash borer presence up top in the canopy (even with binoculars). Additionally, on some trees I noticed serpentine trails in a small area of the tree where the bark had fallen off, this made me wonder just how many of the other trees had serpentine trails underneath the bark that I was unable to observe. Based on this I suspect my initial results on how infected ash trees in the plots were by emerald ash borer could be significantly lower than the reality. I will revisit the same plots as last time (I noted the GPS coordinates of my five 25 X 25 foot plots), however, I will also be taking note if there are other factors of emerald ash borer presence to get a better diagnostic of the health of the ash trees. For example, I will look to see if there are D-shaped emerald ash borer exit holes in the bark or if there are signs of woodpecker activity as well.

Blog Post 4

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Random sampling had the fastest estimated sampling time of 12 hours and 25 minutes. The slowest estimated sampling time was systematic taking 12 hours and 38 minutes. Haphazard sampling was in between taking 12 hours and 36 minutes.

Percentage Error respectively (Eastern Hemlock, Sweet Birch, Striped Maple, White Pine):  *note that Eastern Hemlock and Sweet Birch are the two most common species, while the Striped Maple and White Pine are the rarest species

Systematic: 10.7%, 5.5%, n/a (none found), 52%

Random: 20.6%, 8.1%, n/a (none found), n/a (none found)

Haphazard: 5.3%, 11.3%, 42.9%, 1.2%

Based on these results it is hard to determine which strategy is the most accurate since the random sampling did not find any Striped Maple or White Pine and systematic sampling did not find Striped Maple either. For common species, systematic and haphazard sampling were about equally accurate. My results suggest that 24 was not a large enough sample size to capture species in the rare communities thus insufficient in accurately estimating the abundance of these species.

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 2

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The source is “Controlling Cattail Invasion in Sedge/Grass Meadows” and can be found here: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.tru.ca/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13157-017-0971-8.pdf . This source is an academic, peer-reviewed research paper. Since the author is affiliated with a college in New York I know that the paper is written by an expert in the field. This along with the fact that the paper contains in-text citations and a bibliography I know that it is academic material. In the acknowledgments, two anonymous reviewers are thanked which makes this peer-reviewed academic material. And the paper reports results from a field or lab study completed by the authors (contains methods and results section) which overall, makes this academic, peer-reviewed research material.

Blog Post 1

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Field Journal 1

The site I chose is about one acre of land and is where a river flows out of a lake. The area is mostly water but has a fair bit of plants and trees on the edges of the river. I visited this location on February 17th at around 1:30pm. At the time it was -21 degrees C (wind chill of -28 degrees C) with overcast clouds and 15 km/hr north west winds. There was about a foot to a foot-and-a-half of snow on the ground. The area is located in northern Alberta (Slave Lake) so it is almost completely flat. The vegetation mostly consists of cattails closest to the rivers edge and spruce trees, shrubs and grasses off shore. Three questions that are interesting or striking to me are as follows.

  1. I noticed that most of the vegetation there is dormant during the winter. For example tall yellow grass sticking out of the snow. A possible research question could be related to how vegetation can survive in such cold weather and deep snow. Or the types of adaptations they have that allow them to survive in this environment.
  2. I noticed a fair bit of deer tracks in the area which made me wonder how much vegetation was available for animals during these months since almost everything was covered in a deep layer of snow.
  3. Finally I noticed a lot of cattails on the rivers edge as well as low spots in the area such as ditches. Cattail require moisture in the soil to maintain themselves while dormant (which explains why I found them in lower areas of the landscape) but is this affected by extreme weather conditions (for example the week prior to these observations the temperatures reached -45 degrees C)? How are they affected when the river is frozen? Can they retain moisture the same in cold temperatures? Can the cold weather preserve seeds better?

Blog Post 6: Data Collection

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Blog Post 6: Data Collection

The field data collections at the View Royal Park have been occurring over multiple days at various times of the day. Squirrel abundance in response to dog walking has been measured. Data collection started on Saturday, February 23, 2019, while the weather was clear but chilly. following collections happened on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 10:00, 1330, and 0700 respectively. The weather was clear and windy at approximately 4-5 degrees Celsius.

The predictive variable, dogs, will be organized into intervals of 0-1, 2-4 and 5+ dogs present at the park. The number of squirrels observed within these intervals will be measured and analyzed.

Each interval will be replicated at least 4 times. therefore data collection will continue until each interval (0-1, 2-4 and 5+ dogs at the park) has been noted and squirrel abundance has been measured 4 times within the intervals.

The most difficult part of implementing the sample design is the uncertainty of the number of dogs present at the park at a time. Without the ability to manipulate the number of dogs present data collection must be done over many days and times of the day.

Over four days of data collection patterns appear to support the hypothesis that squirrel abundance declines in presence of dogs as they pose a threat of predation. Although, The outlying intervals of 0-1 and 5+ have much higher replicate data than the median interval of 2-4. Number of humans without dogs in the park have also been collected as a control to show that the decrease in squirrels is not due to humans alone. The number of humans has shown no effect of squirrel abundance so far in data collection.