BIOL 2050 - Lab 2: Grassland dataset examining white aster species using the transect method

The objective of this study was to select a visible plant species to observe and compare amongst 5 variables: distance, height, number of leaves, number of flowers and crowdedness. The plant species selected for this study was the white aster. This study has a sample size of 20 independent white asters (n=20). The data was collected using the transect method on the grasslands of York University on Thursday, September 24, 2015 between 3 and 4 pm. During this time the weather was mostly sunny with a temperature of 22 degrees celsius. It was an open field thus there was direct sunlight which allowed for ideal conditions to record data. The materials used in this experiment include: 2 transects for measurement and a notebook to record data. The distance and height were measured in inches using the two separate transects. The number of leaves and number of flowers were counted. Finally, the crowdedness was estimated and assigned a numerical value based on a scale. Members of the group include: Adilah Ismail, Harshvir Hehar, Amrutha Balamurugan and Olivia Kazmierczak. All group members were assigned to collect data for specific variables of this dataset and these values were subsequently confirmed by all members of the group. The data collected reveals that there is a correlation between the crowdedness of a plant and the height of the plant.