Human Activities and its effect on Dandelion Abudance

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the abundance of plant abundance in an environment is affected by human activity. The plant species used for this experiment was the dandelion Taraxacum officinale. The two variables of human activities were pollutants and the amount of solid garbage. The response variable would be the abundance of T. officinale. Data was collected using quadrant sampling and random sampling. The hypothesis states that pollutants and solid garbage found in close proximity of the dandelion species’ Taraxacum officinale will have an effect on its’ abundance. The experiment was done over a span of two days at York University’s grassland. The experiment was carried out approximately 3pm – 4:30 pm on Oct 19, 2015 and Oct 26, 2015. It was about 11 degrees Celsius, windy and chilly on both days with a little bit of sun. Three ranges were used which were 3-15 feet, 110-200 feet and 60-110 feet away from the road. These were indicators of pollutants. The closer the range is to the road with cars, the more air pollution there is. My partners Elaine, Surfyan, Alex, Frankie and I collected data by randomly placing a quadrat in each range. The number of T. officinale and garbage were counted in each quadrat. This was repeated 30 times for each range on day 1. It was then repeated 20 times again for each range on day 2, thus giving a total of 150 replicates and 50 replicates for each range. This was to ensure that the data collected was representative of the total grassland area and dandelions in that area being studied.

本实验旨在探究环境中植物种群丰度是否受人类活动影响。实验所用植物物种为西洋蒲公英（Taraxacum officinale）。本实验选取的人类活动相关变量为污染物与固体垃圾量，响应变量为西洋蒲公英的种群丰度。数据采集采用样方采样法（quadrant sampling）与随机采样法。
本实验提出的假说为：在西洋蒲公英近生境中存在的污染物与固体垃圾，会对其种群丰度产生影响。实验于约克大学（York University）的草地开展，为期两日，分别于2015年10月19日及2015年10月26日的15:00至16:30间进行。两日的天气状况均为：气温约11摄氏度，有风且偏凉爽，伴有少量日照。
实验设置了三个距离机动车道路的梯度区间：3~15英尺、110~200英尺与60~110英尺，以此作为污染物暴露水平的指示梯度——区间距离机动车道路越近，对应的空气污染水平越高。我与搭档伊莱恩（Elaine）、苏尔菲扬（Surfyan）、亚历克斯（Alex）、弗兰基（Frankie）通过在每个梯度区间内随机放置样方的方式采集数据，对每个样方内的西洋蒲公英个体数与垃圾数量进行计数。
实验首日，每个梯度区间均重复该操作30次；实验次日，每个梯度区间再次重复该操作20次。最终每个梯度区间共获得50次重复采样，总采样重复次数为150次。该采样设计旨在确保所采集的数据能够代表研究区域内整体草地生境与其中的西洋蒲公英种群状况。