Grassland Dataset 2 - Comparison of Goldenrod Characteristics

Methods This study compares several characteristics of 18 individual goldenrod (Solidago spp) plants using transects. The data was collected by a group of four ecology students on Wednesday, September 23, 2015, between approximately 3:00pm and 4:30pm and was taken from a grassland located just East of Stong Pond on the South-West side of York University. For this study, two of the four group members randomly chose a position in the grassland to lay down the transect tape. Once in place, the two members walked along the tape untill a goldenrod was spotted. One team member would then measure how far the plant was from the transect tape. If it was less than 1 metre away, then the distance of the plant from the initial start of the tape was measured in metres. Using another transect tape the height of the plant was then measured in metres, starting from the ground to the highest point of the plant. Meanwhile, the other group member began counting the number of leaves on the plant that were longer than 1 inch (this did not include any dead leaves that had over 50% discolouration), as well as the number of flower clusters (groups of flowers on the same branch). To ensure that the measuring and counting remained consistant, the same group member measured the distance and height for each plant observed, and the other group member counted the leaves and flowers for each plant. The area (within 50 cm) around each plant was then observed and given a rating between 0 and 3 (0 = open, 1 = some plants nearby, 2 = quite a few plants, 3 = very crowded bunch of plants) based on how crowded the patch was. Group members: Israt, Chris, Murtuza