Frequency of bird species using belt transects placed randomly between the Danby woodlot and grassland

The experiment was conducted on October 1st,2015 at the Danby Woodlot and Grasslands at York University between 2:30 to 5:30 PM EST. The weather consisted of sunny blue skies with an approximate temperature of 15 C. It is to be noted that the sudden drop in temperature over a 24 hour time period resulted in a significant decline in bird sightings which is evident in the data collected. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the frequency of bird sightings from 5 randomly placed belt transects at each site; the grassland and the woodlot. A total length of 30 m with a 10 m width was placed in random locations throughout the woodlot and grassland. A total of 10 transect data sets were collected. The observations collected included the species of birds which were later identified by using the provided guidebooks, the abundance of species, the wind speed using the Beaufort Scale( a range of 2-4 was provided by the TA which was later used to estimate the windspeed at the site, where 2 was light breeze, 3 was gentle breeze and 4 was moderate breeze) and the distance from the species in accordance with the field of view of within a 30 m parameter. Each bird species was identified visually and referenced based on the descriptions provided by the guidebook. The distance was estimated by having the experimenter(s) standing at the 0 m mark of the belt transect and estimating the distance of the bird species within the predetermined 30 m mark of the belt transect. The group members included Bavatharane, Azeb, Eman and Saraswatie.

本实验于2015年10月1日在约克大学（York University）的丹比林地与草地（Danby Woodlot and Grasslands）开展，实验时段为东部夏令时（EST）下午2:30至5:30。当日天气晴朗，碧空万里，气温约15摄氏度。需特别说明的是，实验前24小时内的气温骤降导致鸟类观测记录显著减少，该现象在本次采集的实验数据中已有充分体现。本实验的核心目标为：分别在草地与林地两处样地中，统计各5条随机布设的带状样带（belt transect）的鸟类观测频次。每条带状样带总长30米、宽10米，在林地与草地的随机区域内布设。本次实验共收集到10条样带的观测数据集。本次观测所采集的内容包括：经配套指南手册识别确认的鸟类物种、物种丰度、采用博福特风力等级（Beaufort Scale）估算的风速（实验助教提供的风速参考范围为2-4级，其中2级为轻风，3级为和风，4级为劲风），以及基于30米视野范围估算的鸟类与样带起点的相对距离。所有鸟类物种均通过目视识别，并对照指南手册中的物种描述进行最终确认。距离估算的具体方式为：实验人员站在带状样带的0米标记处，估算目标鸟类在预设的30米样带范围内的相对位置距离。参与本次实验的人员包括Bavatharane、Azeb、Eman与Saraswatie。