Examination of human interference and abundance upon plants and animals species richness

Meta Data:

1)
Abundance Native Plants: This is a discrete variable. A 50 m transect was
placed along the length of the pond area and the impermeable surface. The
quadrat (1m*1m) was moved every 2 m along transect. Using a quadrat, the
abundance of native plants was determined by visually distinguishing between
exotic and native and then counted the amount of native plants within the
quadrant. In ambiguous situation the teaching assistant was consulted for
further clarification. This was repeated 25 times and took on average 20
minutes to collect and record.

2)
Abundance Exotic Plants:  This is a discrete variable. A 50m transect
was placed along the length of the pond area and the impermeable surface. Every
2m along the transect, a quadrat was placed alternating left and right, to
visually determine the number of exotic plants present within the
quadrant.  To estimate the abundance of
exotic grass within a quadrant, an area of 0.0625 m2 sample of the
quadrant was counted and then multiplied by 4. This was repeated 25 times and
the data was collected simultaneously with dataset 1 by individual peers.

3) Total
Number of Flowers:  This discrete variable. A 50 m transect was placed
along the length of the pond area and the impermeable surface. Every two meters
along the transect, a quadrat (1m *1m) was placed alternating left and right to
determine the total number of flowers within the quadrant. The number of total
flowers was counted within the quadrat. This was repeated 25 times and the data
took 30 minutes to collect.

4) Abundance woody plants:  This is a
discrete variable. A 50 m transect was placed along the length of the pond area
and the impermeable surface. Then counted the number trees 0.5 m perpendicular
to the transect on either side every 2m.  The tree had to be 1.5 m in height or greater
to be considered as a woody plants. 25 replicates were recorded and took 30
minutes to collect.

5) Canopy cover: This is a continuous variable. For each
respective replicate, the percentage of sky cover not visible due to impeding
canopy cover, directly above the observer was estimated. 25 replicates were
recorded and took 40 minutes to complete simultaneously with dataset 2
variables. 25 recorded and took 30 minutes to collect.

6) Ground cover: This is a continuous variable. The
vegetative ground cover was estimated as a percentage by the observer directly
looking underneath themselves.  25
replicates were recorded and took 30 minutes to collect simultaneously along
with the other variables of dataset 2.

7) Total flower numbers: This is a discrete variable. The
number of flowers around the 50 m transect was measured every 2 m around the
woody plant area. 25 replicates were recorded and took 30 minutes to collect
simultaneously along with the other variables of dataset 2.

8)
Abundance invertebrates pan traps: This is a discrete variable measured with
the usage of 6 pan traps (coloured plastic bowl with approx. 20mL of soap
water).  The 6 replicate pan traps were
placed 3 meters apart, along the transect, while alternating colours (blue,
yellow, white) in the pond and impermeable area.  After placement of the pan traps, a period of
25 minutes was elapsed, at which point the abundance of invertebrates captured
by the pan trap was counted and recorded. 

9)
Abundance vertebrates: This is a discrete variable, which was measured with the
use of a point/observation survey while standing at the beginning of the 50m
transect.  Any/all vertebrates that were
visually identified within a 50m radius from the original position were counted
and recorded for a 15 min period for 2 replicate trials. 

10)
Abundance Humans:  This is a discrete
variable, which was measured with the use of a point/observation survey while
standing at the beginning of the 50m transect. 
Any/all humans that were visually identified (whether on-foot, in
motor-vehicle or other modes of transportation) within a 50m radius from the
original position were counted and recorded for a period of 15 min for 2
replicate trials.  

11)
Abundance Invertebrates observed: This is a discrete variable, which was
measured with the use of a point/observation survey while standing at the
beginning of the 50m transect.  Any/all
invertebrates that were visually identified within a 50m radius from the
original position were counted and recorded for a 15 min period for 2 replicate
trials. 

12) Abundance invertebrates pan traps:  This is a discrete variable measured
with the usage of 6 pan traps (coloured plastic bowl with approx. 20mL of soap
water). The 6 replicate pan traps were placed 3 meters apart, along the
transect, while alternating colours (blue, yellow, white) in the pond area and
the impermeable surface area. After placement of the pan traps, a period of 25
minutes was elapsed, at which point the abundance of invertebrates captured by
the pan trap was counted and recorded. The variables of dataset 4 were done in
30 minutes.

13) Abundance invertebrates sweeps:  This is a discrete variable.
Used the sweep net along the 50 m transect and swept 1 m perpendicular to each
side of the transect. After thoroughly sweeping in the pond area and the impermeable
surface and counted the amount of invertebrates
caught in the sweep net.

Hypothesis:

It is
hypothesized that greater human interference will lead to limitations in diversity
and abundance of plants, flowers, vegetative cover and animals species because
of habitat loss and decrease in essential resources, such as lack camouflage,
food, and nutrient dense soil.    

Predictions:

1.  
Increased
human abundance will lead to a decrease in animal species richness.

2.  
Increased
human abundance will lead to decrease in vegetative cover.

3.  
Increased
human abundance will lead to a decrease in plant species richness.  

Methods:

The experiment
was conducted at the baseball diamond (impermeable surface) and the pond at
York university Keele campus at 2:40 p.m. E.T and lasted approximately 2 hours. 
The GPS coordinates of the near pond area are: longitude -79.50663 and latitude
43.770577. The GPS coordinates for the impermeable area are: Longitude
-79.50721 and Latitude – 43.768235. The 50m transect
was established by using two 30 tape measure and aligning it in a linear
fashion. The tape was set as low as possible without disturbing the area. For
Dataset 1, quadrats (1m *1m) were placed alternately left and right along the
transect every 2 m. The quadrats were placed 0.5m away from the transect. The
number of flowers were then within the quadrant. Then the abundance of exotic
plants (i.e. grass, weed, etc.) and native plants (i.e. white and purple
flowered plants) within the quadrant were counted. For calculating the
abundance of grass, the number of grass in a quarter (0.5m*0.5m) was counted
and then multiplied by four. This process was repeated 24 times along the 50m
transect every 2m in the pond and the impermeable surface. For dataset 2, using
the same 50 m transect, the abundance of wood plants (trees) 0.5m perpendicular
to the transect were surveyed. Also, the canopy coverage and vegetative ground
coverage was estimated and the total number of flowers were counted around the
area. This process was done every 2 m along the transect 25 times in both the pond
and the impermeable surface. For data set 3, stood at the beginning of the
transect and surveyed along a 50 m radius for 15 minutes and observed the
abundance of humans that crossed by, without including lab group members. Also,
the abundance of vertebrates (birds, ducks, etc.), number of vertebrate species
and the abundance of invertebrates (snails, spiders, ants, etc.) were observed.
This process was repeated for one more 15 minute interval for a total of two
times in both the pond and the impermeable surface. For dataset 4, the pan test
was conducted for 15 minutes and six pans were placed with soap water. The pans
were placed 3m away from each other along the transect in the color scheme of
blue, yellow, white, blue, yellow, white. Then counted the abundance of
invertebrates (i.e. ants, flies, spiders, etc.) caught in pan traps for a total
6 trials. Then conducted the sweep test for 20 minutes along the 50 m transect.
Then, the abundance of invertebrate was counted caught in the sweep test. A
total of 10 trials were done.  The data
was collected across two notebooks among three group members/peer and later
accumulated to be digitally recorded on a excel document and saved as a .csv
file. 

Study Site Description: 

A field
study was conducted at the Stong pond located near Osgoode Hall Law School and the
impermeable surface (artificial baseball diamond) located at Passey on York
University’s Keele campus near Pond Road in Toronto, Ontario on October 17,
2016, around 2:40 pm. The temperature was around 17 degrees Celsius, gloomy
skies, lots of cloud cover, thick fog, and light rain. The GPS coordinates of
the near pond area are: longitude -79.50663 and latitude 43.770577. The GPS
coordinates for the impermeable area are: Longitude -79.50721 and Latitude –
43.768235. 

The impermeable
surface was artificially comprised of gravel, while the outer circumference was
encompassed with grass.  The Pond area
was humanly manufactured, that consisted of boulders in the water and
surrounded by small vegetative and canopy cover.