yorku.grassland.disturbed.October4.2016.csv

The purpose of this lab was to identify the abundance of plants, trees, vertebrates and invertebrates in grassland and disturbed habitats. The data for this experiment was collected from the grassland and disturbed area lot located at York University Keele Campus (43.7 degrees North, 75.9 degrees West), between York Blvd and Keele St. at 3:15 pm. It was 21°C and partly sunny and cloudy. Four different experiments were conducted in each habitat - the grassland and disturbed area (categorical). It took 90 minutes to collect all of the data for all experiments.
In the first experiment the quadrat was used to observe the abundance of native plants, exotic plants, and the total number of plants in the grassland and disturbed area which were recorded as continuous data. Two 30m transect tapes were used to measure a transect line of 50 meters. The quadrat was placed on the left and right side of the tape to measure the abundance of plants and total number of flowers. When counting the abundance of plants in the disturbed area, the quadrat was divided into 16 squares and the total number of grass on each square was multiplied with 16 to acquire the total number of grass on the whole quadrat. The habitats used in this experiment were recorded as categorical and abundance of plants found were continuous. In the grassland, the native plants were observed and counted in the entire quadrat. The trial was repeated 25 times for each habitat therefore, a total of 50 meter square area was observed. Flower heads were also observed and counted in the same way for both areas. It was hypothesized that higher abundance of plants and flower heads will be observed in grassland. The prediction was made since the grassland has more insects, increasing the pollination rate and more sunlight for higher plant growth.
The second experiment was done to collect data about woody plants in the grassland and disturbed area. Using transect tape, a straight line of 50 meters was measured along the grassland. The abundance of woody plants (trees greater than 1.5 meters tall) was observed and recorded for every 2 meters along the transect line. Every other meter along the transect, the percentage of canopy coverage and ground coverage were estimated based on observation and the continuous data was recorded. In addition, the total number of plants were observed every 5 meters along the transect and numerically recorded. A total of 25 replicates were recorded for each continuous variable. The same method was also used to measure the abundance of woody plants and the total number of flowers, measure canopy coverage and ground coverage in the disturbed area. It was hypothesized that the disturbed area would have a greater abundance of woody plants than the grassland because the disturbed area is beside a forest. In addition, the grassland would have a greater number of flowers than the disturbed area of the greater diversity found in grassland.
For experiment three, a transect measured to be 50 metres was placed on the disturbed open space. The surroundings were then observed to for fifteen minutes to observe the abundance of vertebrates, the number of species of vertebrates, and the abundance of humans who were not part of BIOL2050. In the grassland area, the same method was carried out for this habitat. The second half of the experiment involved placing a 5 metre transect on the disturbed open space, and measuring the abundance of invertebrates in the 5 metre radius for fifteen minutes. The same method was carried out in the grassland to measure the abundance of invertebrates. It was hypothesized that the abundance of invertebrates and vertebrates would be greater in the grassland than the disturbed open space. It was predicted that invertebrates and vertebrates would be more abundant in the grassland area because the habitat was better suited for their survival. More disturbed areas are destroyed by human interference with their environment.
In the fourth experiment which used the pan trap method and sweeping nets, 6 bowls were randomly placed 3 metres apart from each other in both the grassland and disturbed area. Each bowl was completely filled with soapy water and the abundance of invertebrates were observed and recorded by counting the total number of invertebrates found in each bowl an hour later. Thus, there were a total of 12 replications. The second half of the experiment involved placing a 50 metre transect in both the grassland and disturbed open area using transect tape. Using the sweeping net, the abundance of invertebrates were observed and recorded for each habitat (grassland and disturbed area) after walking down the 50 metre transect 10 times, for a total of 20 replications for the sweeping net experiment.The abundance of invertebrates were recorded as continuous data. It was hypothesized that the abundance of invertebrates would be greater in grassland than the disturbed area. This meant that it was expected that more invertebrates would be observed in the grassland due less disturbances in the grassland leading to more interactions between plants and invertebrates.