Ecology Lab 2: Oberservation and Data Collection of the Common Plantain

This study was done in collaboration with 3 other team members composed of Muhammad Akram, Daniel Germani, and Markian Plawiuk. During data collection for this particular data set, Markian took on the role as lab assistant. This study took place at York University Keele Campus on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015 at the Danby Grassland. The conditions of the environment where the study took place were 23 degrees Celsius, sunny, with mild breezy conditions. The Danby Grassland consisted of a large abundance of plant species no taller than knee height, with a clumped dispersion pattern, as “patches” of individuals crowding together were common. There were minor amounts of debris present within the area at the time of study. The study began at approximately 3:10PM, and concluded at approximately 4:02PM. The purpose of this study was to collect a dataset comprised of 50 individuals of common plantain (<em>Plantago major</em>) along the length of a randomly placed transect tape within the grassland. This study allowed for team members to familiarize themelves with distance methods used in practical ecology studies to estimate and observe population abundances and distributions. Each individual’s distance along the transect tape, height, number of leaves, number of flowers, and it’s crowdedness amongst other individuals within the immediate surrounding areas of observation were noted. Efficiency and effectiveness was ensured by having one team member moving along the transect line and taking note of the distance, number of leaves, flowers, and crowdedness, while the lab assistant measured the height of each species and reassured that the leaf count was correct. Both group members were responsible for making sure that movement along the transect line was as straight as possible and not skewed, and for spotting the next target individual located along the transect tape. This method of sampling used with the transect was the line method, as individuals located directly under the transect tape were recorded. The origin of the transect tape was held in place to the ground of the random location of origin of study by firmly and securely placing a pencil into the ground holding the end of the tape to ensure the distances measured were as accurate as possible. If the end of the grassland field was approached prior to the completion of data collection, a brand new random origin location was selected within the area of study to avoid biased sampling, and observations were resumed normally with new distances recorded till enough individuals have been observed.

本研究与另外三名团队成员合作完成，成员包括Muhammad Akram、Daniel Germani与Markian Plawiuk。在本次数据集的数据采集阶段，Markian担任实验室助理。本研究于2015年9月22日星期二，在约克大学基尔校区（York University Keele Campus）的丹比草原（Danby Grassland）开展。研究区域当日的环境条件为：气温23摄氏度，天气晴朗，伴有温和微风。丹比草原内生长着大量高度不超过膝部的植物物种，种群呈集群分布模式，个体聚集形成“斑块”的现象十分常见，研究区域内当时存在少量碎屑杂物。

研究于当日约下午3:10启动，至下午4:02结束。本研究的目的为沿草原内随机布设的样带卷尺，采集50株普通车前草（Plantago major）的数据集，以帮助团队成员熟悉实际生态学研究中用于估算和观测种群丰度与分布的距离法。

研究人员记录了每株目标植物沿样带卷尺的距离、株高、叶片数、花朵数，以及其在观测邻近区域内与其他个体的拥挤程度。为确保采样效率与准确性，一名团队成员沿样带移动，负责记录样带距离、叶片数、花朵数及拥挤程度，实验室助理则测量每株植物的株高，并复核叶片计数是否正确。两名团队成员共同负责确保沿样带的行进尽可能笔直，避免偏移，并定位样带卷尺上的下一个目标个体。

本次使用样带的采样方法为样线法（line method），即记录直接位于样带卷尺下方的个体。将样带卷尺的原点牢牢固定在随机选定的研究起始位置的地面上，用铅笔插入地面固定卷尺末端，以确保测量距离尽可能精准。若在完成数据采集前抵达草原地块的边界，则在研究区域内重新选取新的随机起始点，以避免采样偏差，随后恢复正常观测，继续记录距离直至采集到足够数量的个体。