YorkU.grassland-disturbed.oct42016

The overall study examines the
relationship of plant species and invertebrate and vertebrate ­species in
relation to their surrounding environment. Comparisons and data were collected
at a grasslands lot and a disturbed area at York University, Keele Campus. Four
different survey methods were conducted and specifically for this weeks data
collected on Oct 4, 2016, the relationship between the total number of flowers
along a transect were analyzed by noting the abundance of woody plants, canopy
cover and ground vegetation cover.
Methods
Four survey methods were used to
compare and analyze the plant species, as well as the invertebrate and
vertebrate species in a grasslands lot and a disturbed area.
In the first survey of herbaceous
plants, two 25m transact tapes were place end-to-end in a straight line to form
a 50m sampling transect. Students began at one end of the 50m transact line and
proceeded towards the other end. A quadrat was thrown perpendicularly, approximately
0.5m away from the transect every 2m – beginning on the left, the quadrat was
thrown in alternated direction (left, right, left, right, etc.) Students
observed and recorded the abundance of native plants, abundance of exotic
plants, as well as the total number of flower found in each quadrat. This
process was carried for 50m of transect tape. The procedure was carried out
identically for both the grasslands and disturbed habitats.
In the second survey of woody
plants, using the same 50m transect tape laid down in the first survey,
students were observing and recording the abundance of woody plants (trees),
canopy cover, ground cover and total number of flowers. Data was collected at
2m intervals along the transect and noted only the trees that were 0.5m away
from the transect. If a tree was present in a 0.5m distance, then a canopy
cover percentage was recorded, if not, zero was recorded. At each 2m interval,
students also noted the percentage of ground cover in the surround area as well
as the total amount of flowers at each interval. The procedure was carried out
identically for both the grasslands and disturbed habitats.
In the third survey of vertebrate
and invertebrates, using the same 50m transect tape laid down as mentioned in
the first survey. At the 50m mark along the transect, the parameter was
assessed in order to determine the abundance of vertebrates, the number of
vertebrate species and the abundance of humans. At the 5m mark along the
transect, the surround area was assessed for 15 minutes in order to determine
the abundance of invertebrates present. The procedure was carried out
identically for both the grasslands and disturbed habitats.
In the fourth survey of invertebrates, six pan traps containing soap water were strategically spaced
at 3m intervals, in an alternating colour pattern along the right side of the
length of the transect. The number of abundance of invertebrates was collected
as continuous data and represents the total number of insects found in each of
the pans. The pan traps were laid out in this manner to collect the abundance
of invertebrates for both the grasslands and the disturbed areas. The
continuous data for pan traps in each of the two scenarios were only collected
after ten trials of sweep net abundance tests were conducted along part of the
same transect. Along the transect, ten
trials of the sweep net tests were conducted to verify the abundance of
invertebrates. Each sweep net transect measuring 50 meters was considered a
trial. The abundance of invertebrates were collected at the end of each trial
as continuous data by counting the total number of insects found inside the
sweep net.
Hypothesis
There will be a positive
correlation that more flowers will be present in the grasslands lot than a
disturbed area, as well as the number of flowers will increase when there is a
decrease in the total percentage of ground coverage along the transect.
There will be a decrease of the total amount of flowers present when a woody plant is present increasing the canopy cover. 
Prediction
There will be a positive
correlation that more flowers will be present in the grasslands lot than a disturbed
area due to the environmental layout and surroundings of the various plant
species. In the grasslands lot, there is an abundance of viable vegetation
space for existing and new flowers to develop, where as the disturbed area is
much more urbanized and is affected by human interaction due to the pathway
created for students to walk through on campus. Also, the number of flowers
will increase when there is lower ground percent coverage because developing
and growing flowers will occupy more of the area than the non-viable ground
coverage. If a woody plant is present in the measured area, the canopy cover increases reducing the amount of sunlight available for plants to develop and reproduce. As the canopy cover percentage increases, there is less sunlight available for photosynthesis to occur and for plants to be able to survive under the canopy, thus leading to a decrease in flowers presents when a woody plant is present.
Metadata
- Overall the study took
approximately 2 hours to complete all four surveys on both the grasslands lot
and disturbed area

- Weather conditions during the grasslands lot was sunny, partly cloudy and 21°C around 3PM

- Weather conditions during the disturbed area sampling was sunny, partly
cloud, windy and 18°C around
4:15PM

- Grasslands lot was located near a pond at York University

- Disturbed area was located near buildings, parking areas and cement pathways
for students to walk through campus
- Abundance Native Plant: a
numerical, quantitative measure of the number of native plants found
approximately 0.5m from the transect tape

- Abundance Exotic Plant: a numerical, quantitative count of the total number of
exotic plants found with the quadrat – each quadrat was thrown 0.5m away from
the transect line. Each single stem sprouting from the ground within the
quadrat is counted as one plant.

- Total Number of Flowers (Survey Method 1): a numerical, quantitative data of
the total number of flowering buds found in a quadrat. Each flowering brand was
counted as a single flower.
- Abundance of Woody Plants: a
numerical, quantitative measure of the number of woody plants found
approximately 0.5m from the transect tape. A woody plant was considered if the
height of the plant was over 1.5m.

- Canopy Cover: a numerical, quantitative measure calculated in a percentage of
the amount of cover the woody plant was covering. A zero was recorded if no
woody plant was measured at the interval.
- Ground Cover: a numerical,
quantitative measure calculated in a percentage of the amount ground cover at
each 2m interval along the transect. 

- Total Number of Flowers (Survey Method 2): a numerical, quantitative data of
the total number of flowering buds found along the transect. A flower was
consider if the stem was approximately 0.2m away from the transect on either
side.
- Abundance Vertebrates/Invertebrates:
a numerical, quantitative data of the total number of vertebrates and invertebrates

- Vertebrate Species: a numerical, quantitative data of the total number of
different vertebrate species present

- Abundance Human: a numerical, quantitative data of the total number of humans
present not including the students enrolled in BIOL 2050 Lab 07
- Abundance Invertebrate pan
traps: a numerical, quantitative data of the total number of invertebrates
collected in the pan traps laid at 3m intervals along the transect

- Abundance invertebrate sweeps: a numerical, quantitative data of the total
number of invertebrate collected in the sweep net walking along the 50m
transect
- The pan traps for both the grasslands and the disturbed
area followed the color order: white, blue, and yellow in the same repeated
pattern.

- While the pan traps were left out to collect data in the
form of invertebrates in the grasslands for about 40 minutes, they were only
left out in the disturbed area for about 20 minutes before the data was
reported

-
It is important to note that the 50
meter transect in the grasslands contained significant amount of vegetation while
the transect in the disturbed area was scant in comparison and mostly contained
grass.