Effects on Plant Height in Disturbed (Exterior) and Undisturbed (interior) of Danby Grasslands

The data was collected at Danby Grassland at York University Keele Campus on Thursday October 15 2015 and Thursday October 22 2015 at approximately 3:00pm. The duration of the experiment took approximately 2 hours on day one and approximately 1.5 hours on day two and spanned a duration of 2 weeks. The temperature on day 1 was 7°C and it was chilly with light showers. The temperature on day 2 was 13°C and was windy with clear skies. The sampling site within Danby grassland where the data was collected was divided into the exterior boundaries and interior portion. Both portions were visually determined. The exterior were the surrounding boundaries separating the cleared mowed down area from the dense vegetation area and as a result was easy to access. The interior was the centralized portion with think, dense vegetation. This area was harder to access and had to manoeuver through the plants in order to reach and measure the desired plant species. Both areas of the site were large, open and dry and the vegetation increased as you went further into the site.

The experiment was done in groups of four and was equally divided amongst the group members, Azeb, Eman, Bava and Saraswatie. On day one 40 plants were measured for each species in both the interior and exterior of the grassland. On day two 10 plants were measured for each species in both the interior and exterior. The total sample size for the experiment is 300. The 3 plant species measured were Purple Aster, White Aster and Goldenrod. This lab was meant to determine the effects on plant height in disturbed versus undisturbed areas of the same location. We speculated that areas with more human interference and environmental disturbance (exterior) would be substantially shorter than those isolated from human interference and environmental disturbance (interior). Also, the purpose of this lab was to devise and preform our own experiments and learn the process in collecting and publishing data to later use in writing a lab report.

On day one, the data was collected by initially distinguishing the exterior and interior portions of the grassland by visually scoping the area. Once doing so, the three most common plant species were determined by using the plant guide book. Purple aster, white aster and goldenrod were the most common plant species. We started with the exterior of the grassland and using a tape measured we randomly chose 40 purple asters and measured them from the base of the plant up to the highest point of the plant. We crouched down when measuring the plants so we could see the measurements at eye level and the measurements were recorded in feet. We attempted to choose plants evenly across the boundaries for a more accurate representation of the exterior boundaries. If there was more than one plant branching from the same stem, the tallest one was selected. The results were documented with pen and paper in an organized chart. The same process was repeated for white aster and goldenrod. After completing the exterior we moved into the interior of the portion of the grassland. Again, we randomly selected 40 purple aster and measured the plant height and recorded the measurements. We attempted to span the interior equally for a more holistic representation. This was repeated for white aster and goldenrod as well. We alternated group members when measuring plant height but kept the method of measuring the same. Dead plants were excluded from the experiment and were determined dead if they were unable to remain upright on their own or were trampled on.

On day two, when examining the area there was a significant decline in plants making it much more difficult to find living plants to measure. The same process was preformed but we reduced the sample size to 10 plants for each species in both the interior and exterior for a total of 20 samples for each species. Areas where we previously measured were avoided in attempts reduce the probability in measuring the same plants from day 1. Lastly, data was compiled on to a spreadsheet.

本数据集采集于2015年10月15日（周四）与2015年10月22日（周四）下午约3点，地点为约克大学（York University）基尔校区（Keele Campus）的丹比草地（Danby Grassland）。实验首日时长约2小时，次日约1.5小时，整体实验周期跨度为2周。首日气温为7℃，天气阴冷且伴有小雨；次日气温为13℃，天气晴朗且多风。
本次数据采集所在的丹比草地采样区域被划分为外缘区域与内部区域，二者均通过目视判定。外缘区域为分隔经清理修剪区域与茂密植被区的周边边界，该区域易于通行；内部区域为草地中心区域，植被茂密厚实，通行难度较高，需穿梭于植株间才能抵达并测量目标植物物种。采样区域整体开阔干燥、面积广阔，且越往区域内部，植被越为繁茂。
本实验以4人为一组开展，任务由组员Azeb、Eman、Bava与Saraswatie平均分配。首日，研究人员对草地外缘与内部区域内的各植物物种分别测量40株样本；次日则改为各物种在内外区域各测量10株样本。本实验总样本量为300，共测量3种植物物种：紫菀（Purple Aster）、白菀（White Aster）与一枝黄花（Goldenrod）。
本实验旨在探究同一区域内受干扰区域与未受干扰区域对植物株高的影响。我们推测，受人类活动干扰与环境扰动更多的外缘区域，其植物株高将显著低于未受人类干扰与环境扰动的内部区域。此外，本次实验的目标还包括设计并实施自主实验，掌握数据采集与整理流程，为后续撰写实验报告积累数据支撑。
首日数据采集流程如下：首先通过目视踏勘区分草地的外缘与内部区域，随后借助植物图鉴确定区域内三种最常见的植物物种，即紫菀、白菀与一枝黄花。研究人员先从外缘区域开始，使用卷尺随机选取40株紫菀，测量其从植株基部到最高处的株高，测量时下蹲以保证视线与刻度平齐，测量单位为英尺，并尝试沿边界均匀选取植株以更准确地反映外缘区域的整体情况。若同一茎干上存在多个分枝，则选取最高的植株进行测量。实验结果以笔纸记录于有序表格中，随后以相同流程分别测量白菀与一枝黄花。完成外缘区域测量后，研究人员转入内部区域，同样随机选取40株紫菀测量株高并记录，同样尝试均匀覆盖内部区域以获得更全面的样本代表性，随后重复该流程测量白菀与一枝黄花。实验过程中轮换组员开展测量，但始终保持统一的测量方法。死亡植株将被排除出实验样本，判定标准为无法自主直立或已被踩踏的植株。
次日勘查区域时，发现植株数量显著减少，寻找可测量的活植株难度大幅提升。实验流程与首日一致，但将各物种在内外区域的样本量缩减至10株，即每个物种总计20个样本。为避免重复测量首日已采样的植株，研究人员避开了首日的采样区域。最后，所有数据被整理至电子表格中。