Effects of sunlight and plant density on plant height in Aster prenanthoides, Cirsium vulgare and Solidago canadensis.Datasheet.

To test the theory of competition and plant traits, both shadiness,plant density and the heights of three plant species were recorded in the grassland east of Stong Pond (43°46'15.5"N 79°30'26.2"W) located at York University (4700 Keele Street,Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada) , on September 14th and 21st,2014 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Plant species observed in the grassland included the following : Canada Goldenrob (Solidago canadensis), white aster (Aster ericoides), zig-zag aster (Aster prenanthoides), spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Graminoids ( grasses). The tools used in this dataset are : a belt transect and a measure transect tape. In total n=60 plots (denoted as “replicates”) are sampled : the firstn=30 replicates were sampled in the inner grassland (denoted as "I") and the second n=30 replicates were sampled in the outer grassland (denoted as "O"). On September 14th, the belt transect was set down on the ground along a gradient from shady to sunny. In order to do this, the belt transect departed from a random point in the middle of the grassland towards the closest tree or group of trees. From the start of the belt transect,a plot was sampled every 5 meters along the transect and the variables (listed below) were collected for each plot. The plot area to sample was defined by walking two steps in every direction from a point on the transect each 5 meters.In total, n= 10 plots were sampled along each belt transect and n=3 belt transects were performed with the same procedure in the inner grassland during the field sampling. On September 21st, the belt transect was set down on the ground departing from a random point located on the edge of the grassland towards another subsequent point on the border. The sampling procedure was repeated each 5 meters along the transect. In total, n=3 belt transects were performed in the outer grassland and n=10 plots were sampled along each belt transect. Shadiness is the shade coverage in the plot. It was visually observed looking from above to the ground. Every plot was then denoted either as "L"= lots of shade, "S"=some shade, "N"=no shade. Plant density (denoted as "crowdedness") was visually observed and estimated in each plot. It was recorded whether the target species in the plot were in a crowded patch (0 = open, 1 = some plants nearby, 2 = quite a few plants nearby, 3 = very crowded bunch of plants within 50 cm). Height is measured in meters for individuals of the target species in each plot : S.canadensis height (m) , C.vulgare height (m) , A.prenanthoides height (m) . Height was measured using a measure transect tape from the ground to the tallest point of the plant which we were sampling. The dataset is represented using a clustered bar graph with three groups (no shade,some,lots) of three bars (for each of the target species) and a scatter plot where height is dependant on crowdedness. The statistical tests run are an one-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) with alpha = 0.05 to test the significance between groups (species height vs. shadiness) and a correlation test to see if crowdedness has an effect/trade-off (species height vs. crowdedness).