Danby Grassland Aster Transect Dataset

Site
Description
Sampling taken outdoors in the Danby grassland on the York
University Keele campus. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds, 28 degrees
Celsius. The grassland was a clearing with no tree canopy, and surrounded by
trees and a woodlot on all sides. Samples were taken from 2:30-5:00 in the
afternoon. There was continuous ground cover at the site.

Metadata

Height: The
first factor is height. The height of each plant was measured in centimeters
using a measuring tape. The plant was measured from the base of the stem to the
top of the stem. If the plant was bending over at all, the stem was pulled
straight and taught alongside the vertical measuring tape. No broken-stemmed
plants were included in the data.

Level of
Crowding: The second factor is level of crowding. Crowding was measured on a
scale from 0-3, based on the following definitions: 0 = open, 1 = some plants
nearby, 2 = quite a few plants nearby, and 3 = very crowded bunch of plants,
all within 50cm of the plant of interest.

Number of
leaves: The number of leaves is the response. We counted all the leaves on
every stem of the plant (including if the stem branched into 2 or more separate
stems), including both dead and living leaves. Size was not relevant when counting.
We included broken/partial leaves as well in our count.
Distance on transect: Measured based on the location of the plant, perpendicular to the transect. Was an estimated measurement.
Number of Flowers: A counted observation, and small, closed buds were included as flowers.

Methods

A 30-metre transect
was placed randomly in the Danby grassland, and was extended on a straight path
to a length of 25 metres. I then walked along the transect, beginning at 0m.
Each time an individual of the plant species I was sampling was spotted, I stopped
and took measurements. 20 plants in total were measured using random sampling. The
plant species was identified based on its purple flowers, as well as its leaf
shape and characteristics, having one very defined midrib and pointed apex, for
plants that had no flowers. Individual plants were determined by observing that
each plant had one steam directed into the ground, so even if a plant had
multiple stems branching off of the stem going into the ground, all of the
branching stems were considered one plant.

Hypothesis

The height
and level of crowding of a plant affect the number of leaves it has. This is
because the leaves grow evenly from all parts of the stem, starting just above
its base, so leaf number and plant height correlate, and because the level of crowding
determines the amount of competition the plant has for nutrients, water and
sunlight, which affects the number of leaves it is able to grow.

Predictions

The taller
the plant, the more number of leaves it will have.

The higher
the level of crowding, the less number of leaves the plant will have.