The Ecological Study on the Relative Plant and Animal Abundance at Danby Woodlot

Meta-Data 

Census:
Categorical- Corresponds to sampling week. Week 5=census 1, week 6=census 2,
week 7=census 8.

Calendar
Date: Categorical- Corresponds to the day of sampling. 

Campus:
Categorical- Corresponds to the campus in which sample was collected at. 

Group
ID: Categorical- Corresponds to the unique code for each lab group. Consists of
the lab section and an assigned group number (given by the TA).

Habitat:
Categorical- The ecological environment home to the plants and animals being
studied. This data was collected at a location within the York University Keele
Campus; Danby Woodlot.

Lat
(Latitude) and Long (Longitude): Continuous- Geographical coordinates
indicating the north-south position(lat) and east-west(long) of a precise
location. Latitude and Longitude varied for grassland and disturbed area.
Provided by the TA.

Elevation:
Continuous- The altitude/and or height of land above sea level. Measurements
were in meters. Provided by the TA

Rep
(Replicates): Discrete- The number of replications that each task was assigned.
25 replicates for herbaceous plants; 25 for woody plants; 2 for the
invertebrate and vertebrates (one replicate for each respectively), and lastly
invertebrates observed by pan trap (6 replicate) and sweep net (10 replicate)
were recorded.

Abundance
Native Plants: Discrete- The number native plants observed in each habitat.
Native plants were determined with the help of the TA.

Abundance
Exotic Plants: Discrete- The number exotic plants observed in each habitat.
Exotic plants were determined with the help of the TA.

Total
Number of Flowers (Quadrat): Discrete- The number of flowers observed within each
quadrant. Method used to determine flowers provided in the method section
below.

Abundance
of Woody Plants: Discrete- The number of trees observed along the transect
line. Particularly, trees that were at least 1.5 metres tall were considered.
If there was no tree, zero was recorded.

Canopy
cover: Continuous- The percentage based on the amount of coverage the branches
of the trees provided. The data was estimated mentally using hands to form a
quadrat.

Ground
Cover: Continuous- The percentage of vegetation coverage on the ground. The
data was estimated using hands to a form a quadrat. If it had no vegetation
zero was recorded, if completely covered it was represented as 100.

Total
Number of Flower (Transect): Discrete- The number of flowers located
either side of the transect within a 0.5m radius. Any plants that expressed
similar flower traits (petals and/or filaments) were considered as flowers.
Furthermore, dried flowers were not considered for the flower head count.

Abundance
of Vertebrates: Discrete- The number of vertebrates observed with within a 50
metre radius from the beginning of the transect line. Distinct morphological
features (eg. vertebrae column) were used to identify vertebrates. A 15-minute
time period was used to observe the abundance of vertebrates.

Vertebrate
Species: Discrete- The number of vertebrates belonging to different observed
with within a 50-meter radius from the beginning of the transect line. The
examiner determined the different species. A 15-minute time period was used to observe
the number of vertebrate species.

Abundance
of Invertebrates: Discrete- The abundance of invertebrates was measured along a
5 metre radius from the beginning of the transect line. Using basic visual
inspection, the amount of invertebrates (lacked vertebrae column) was counted.
This was observed during a separate 15-minute time period. 

Abundance
Invertebrates Observed: Discrete- The number of invertebrates were measured
along a 5-meter radius from the beginning of the transect line. Using basic visual
inspection, the amount of invertebrates was counted. This was observed during a
separate 15-minute time period.

Abundance
of Humans: Discrete- The number of humans that did not belong in lab were once
again observed with basic inspection along the 50 metre radius from the
beginning of the transect line. This was observed during the same 15-minute
time period as when the abundance of vertebrates were observed. This data
is numerical discrete data.

Abundance
Invertebrates Pan Traps: Discrete- The number of invertebrates caught along the
transect line. 6 Pan traps while alternating colour were spaced 3 metres apart
along the 50m transect line each represent 1 replication. The total number of
invertebrates within the pan trap was recorded after 45 minutes.

Abundance
Invertebrate Sweeps: Discrete- The number of invertebrates caught along the
transect line through the swaying of nets. Sweep nets were performed in a swing
manner along the transect 10 times. At the end of each collection the examiner
recorded the number of invertebrates present.

Study Site: On October 20th,
2016 a field study was conducted at Danby Woodlot at York University Keele
Campus 3:00-4:30 pm. The weather was gloomy, and raining and the temperature was at 12 degrees Celsius. Most of the forest ground was covered with leaves that had fallen from the trees.

Methods:

 Two transect tapes were used to obtain a 50m transect line that
was placed at each habitat. This was used for all the survey methods conducted.

Herbaceous Plants (Quadrats)

Every
two metres along the transect line, quadrats (1m x 1m) were placed on
alternating sides of the line. The abundance of native and exotic plants, as
well as the total number of flowers was counted. The quadrat was divided into 4
subunits. Only the observations from the bottom right portion of the quadrat
was considered in the data set. Furthermore, dried flowers were not considered
for the flower head count. Native and exotic plants were identified with the
help from the TA. The flower heads were counted as an individual head and if
the plant had bearings that were in clusters on a stem, each cluster was
counted as a multiple of 10 flower heads. 

Woody Plants (Transect)

Every
two meters along the transect line, a tree that was within 0.5 metres radius along
either side of the line were recorded. Only trees that were 1.5 metres or
taller in height were considered woody plants. If there was no tree, zero was
recorded. The canopy coverage was measured by looking up while holding both
hands in a quadrat form and estimating the percentage at which the trees cover
the quadrat. The ground cover was measured using the same method as the canopy
coverage. The total number of flowers within a 0.5m radius on either side of
the transect line was recorded. The idea as the herbaceous was used to
determine flower consideration.

Vertebrates and Invertebrates (Point Survey)

From
the beginning of the transect, a 50metre radius was observed for any vertebrate
species, specifically the abundance of vertebrates and the abundance of
species. The same transect lines used for the first two experiments were used
for this experiment too. This was done over a 15-minute time interval. During
the same time interval using basic visual inspection, within the same 50m
radius, abundance for humans that were not a part of this lab were also being
observed. On a separate 15-minute time interval, invertebrates were observed by
basic visual inspection along a 5m radius from the beginning of the transect.

Invertebrates (Pan Traps & Sweep Nets)

This
experiment had two parts for capturing invertebrates using pan traps and a
sweep net. For the first part, 6 pan traps were placed 3 meters apart while
alternating the pan trap colours yellow, blue and white along the length of the
transect. Each trap was filled half way with soapy water. After 45 minutes, the
total number of invertebrates captured in each trap were individually counted
and recorded. For the second part, we had to walk along a 50 meter transects
and swinging the sweep net in a soft motion. 10 trials were done and each trial
took about 2 minutes. The total number of invertebrates captured were
individually counted and recorded. 

Hypothesis: Trees and woody plants provide shade and
other mutualistic relationships between other species. If there are large
amounts of woody plants, then will be a increase in species diversity because
it promote more mutualistic relationships with the woody plants and trees.

Predictions:

1.   
If there is a large amount of woody plants there will be an increase in
canopy cover.

2.   
If there is a large amount of woody plants there will be an increase of vertebrate species.

3.   
If there is a high percentage of canopy cover there will be an increase in
vertebrate species.