The Effect of Sunlight and Crowding Level on the Presence of Moss in the Dandy Woodlot Area of York University

The purpose of this experiment is to determine if sunlight intensity and level of crowding are factors contributing the presence of moss in the Dandy Woodlot area of York University. A 30 meter transect was randomly laid out from the edge of the Dandy woodlot at York University towards the centre of the woodlot for a distance of 25meters. Walking along the transects, at 5 meter interval a (1mx1m) quadrat was placed directly over the marked distance on the ground. The area enclosing the quadrat was observed for the presence of moss and recorded on paper as either a yes "Y" or no "N". The percentage coverage of moss for the area in the enclosed quadrat was then estimated. The level of crowding of trees and other plants around the area of the quadrat (crowding ranks from 0-3, which 0 being no significant trees or plants within 20 meters, 3 means plants completely surround the area) was then determined. Finally, using fingertips, a rectangle was made and held towards the sky directly over quadrat to determine the level of sunlight intensity coming in and reaching the area. This entire process was then repeated several times.For every 5 meter interval walk along the transect, a quadrat was laid down was observed and data collected. For each time a transect was laid out 25m long, four (4 ) replicates/data sets were collected. In total 100 data points were collected. Data was collected on October 14,2015 and October 21,2015 between the hours of 3:00-5:00pm in the Dandy woodlot area of York University, Keele Campus among a group of four Ecology (BIOL2050) section 03 students. October 14th was a sunny day with temperature average of 14 degrees than compared to the 21st which was overcast and with temperatures average of 10 degrees celcius and wind speed of 2-4m/s . Data was collected by the following four members of group number three (3): Shaneil.H, Mary.H, Gamasayini.K and Prachi.M. Each member collected 25 replicates using a 1m*1m quadrat and a 30m tansect.