Ecology BIOL2050 Lab 3 Dataset 4 Bird Species

This data set for the third BIOL2050 lab was conducted in the Stong pond grassland on Tuesday September 29, 2015 at about 4:00 PM. The temperature in the area during the time of data collection was roughly 15 degrees Celsius accompanied by rain and cloud cover with a light breeze. The objective of this dataset was to identify the different species of birds and the frequency of these species in the Stong pond grasslands. A pair of binoculars and transect tape were used to collect this data in the tall grass region of the grassland. First, a transect tape was laid out in the tall grass and 50 meters were measured. Then, my group members and I walked along the transect tape, looking all around us to spot any birds either flying around in the sky, swimming in the pond or walking on land. We used the binoculars to get closer looks at birds that were far away so we could better identify the species. Any birds that were spotted were recorded and these steps were carried out four more times for a total of five replicates. This dataset taught us how the line transect data collection method is very useful when you want to cover a large area quickly and/or are examining mobile organism which obviously were birds in this case. Since it was raining during the time of this data collection, not many birds were spotted and our data doesn’t reflect the true bird population of the Stong pond grassland.

本数据集为BIOL2050课程第三次实验的采集数据，于2015年9月29日周二下午约4点，在斯汤池塘草原（Stong Pond Grassland）开展。数据采集期间该区域气温约为15摄氏度，伴随降雨与阴天，且有微风。本数据集的研究目标为识别斯汤池塘草原的不同鸟类物种，并统计各物种的出现频次。本次数据采集借助双筒望远镜与样带卷尺（transect tape）在草原的高草区域进行。首先，在高草区域布设样带卷尺，测量出50米的样带长度；随后，我与小组成员沿样带步行，环视四周以发现各类鸟类——包括空中飞行、池塘中游动或陆地行走的个体。对于距离较远的鸟类，我们借助双筒望远镜进行近距离观察，以精准识别其物种。所有观测到的鸟类均被记录，上述步骤共重复四次，累计完成5组重复采样。通过本数据集，我们了解到：当需要快速覆盖大面积区域，或研究移动性生物（本案例中即为鸟类）时，样带法（line transect）数据采集方式极具实用性。由于本次数据采集期间正值降雨，观测到的鸟类数量较少，因此本数据集无法准确反映斯汤池塘草原的真实鸟类种群状况。