YorkU.forest.oct5-2016.csv

<b>Meta data</b><b>:</b> <b> </b><b>Abundance native plants:</b> The number of individuals of a native plant species seen in the quadrat. Only green, living individuals were considered in this value. Individuals whose leaves were in the quadrat but their roots were outside the quadrat were not considered. A plant species was considered native according to the lab technician's description. <b>Abundance exotic plants:</b> The number of individuals of an exotic plant species seen in the quadrat. Only green, living individuals were considered in this value. Individuals whose leaves were in the quadrat but their roots were outside the quadrat were not considered. A plant species was considered exotic according to the lab technician's identification. <b>Total number of flowers:</b> The total number of flowers visible in the quadrat. Only living flowers were considered in this value, but flowers present could be of any maturity. Individuals with flowers must have roots inside the quadrat for the flower to be considered. <b>Abundance woody plants:</b> The number of individuals of woody plants seen within 0.5m of the left and right side of the transect. Only living individuals were considered in this value. A woody plant must be greater than 1.5m in height to be considered in this value. The woody plant must not be uprooted for it to be considered. <b>Canopy Cover: </b>This data describes the percentage of sky covered by trees in an upward perspective. “Canopy covered” is used to represent how much light is blocked by trees. The data was collected by putting our hands in a way to form a square and keeping it toward the sky and estimating which percentage of the square does not let light through. The same area square was used in each measurement. Only one perspective was considered for each data value. <b>Ground cover: </b>This data describes the<b> </b>percentage of<b> </b>ground that was covered by vegetation within a 1m radius of where standing. Estimations were made by dividing the visual area directly below feet into smaller sections and adding the sum area covered by any vegetation within the total area. <b>Total number of flowers:</b> The total number of flowers visible within 0.5m of the left and right side of the transect. Only living flowers were considered in this value, but flowers could be of any maturity. Woody plants with flowers must be living and not uprooted for the flower to be considered. <b>Abundance vertebrates:</b> The total number of individuals taxonomically classified as a vertebrate that was visible within a 50m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes. Individuals were counted by sight in that time. Any species with recognizable vertebrate morphology were considered. Any participants of the lab were not considered in the count. <b>Vertebrate species:</b> The number of different recognizable species visible within a 50m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes. Any vertebrate with clear morphological characteristics unique to other vertebrates in the area were considered to be its own species group. This data was counted by sight. Any participants of the lab were not considered in the count. <b>Abundance human: </b>The total number of humans seen within a 50m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes. Any participants of the lab were not considered in the count. <b>Abundance invertebrates pan traps:</b> The total number of individual insects visible in the soapy water of one single pan trap 1.5 hours after it had been set. Invertebrates were counted by sight. Any species with recognizable morphology of an invertebrate were considered. Any individuals not in the soapy water were excluded from the count. Pan traps used were of identical size and contained relatively equal volumes of soapy water. <b>Abundance invertebrates sweeps</b>: The total number of individuals taxonomically classified as an invertebrate that was visible in the sweep net after a swift and repetitive figure eight movement along a transect for 50m. Individuals were counted by sight. Any species with recognizable invertebrate morphology were considered. <b>Abundance invertebrates observed:</b> The total number of individuals taxonomically classified as an invertebrate that was visible within a 5m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes. Individuals were counted by sight in that time. Any species with recognizable invertebrate morphology were considered. Cite description: Data was collected in the Danby Woodlot found outside of York University campus on a Wednesday of early October around 3:00pm. There was a clear sky, little to no wind and a temperature of 20^oC. The woodlot consisted of a very shaded area containing many trees and vegetation. Twigs, leaves, branches and litter covered the ground. A grassland was nearby. A dispersed crowd of 18 York University students and one TA were walking within the area collecting different samples. <b>Hypothesis:</b>We Hypothesized that the closer the trees are to one another, the less canopy cover they would have because the two plants will fight for the same resources preventing them from reaching maximum growth. <b>Prediction 1:</b> If the two or more trees are closer than 0.5 meter from each other, the percentage of canopy cover will be less than 20%. <b>Prediction 2:</b> If the two or more trees are farther than 0.5 meter from each other, the canopy cover will be greater than 20%. <b>Methods:</b> The tree data was collected at the Danby woodlot on the York University campus for all four data sets. Herbaceous plants – Two 25 metre transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of 50 metres. Every two metres a quadrat was randomly placed while alternating right and left from the transect for a total of 25 replications. The total number of native plant species were estimated in the quadrat as well as exotic plants. The type of species known to be exotic and native were provided before the experiment was conducted. Also, the total number of flower heads in each quadrat were recorded and zeros were given when there were no plants or flowers present. This was performed with two individuals where one moved the quadrats according to the appropriate position and the other recorded the data present. Woody Plants - Two 25 metre transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of 50 metres. The experimenters looked for a tree on either side of the transect that was within 0.5 metres for every two metres along the transect. A tree was considered to be any woody plant that was taller than 1.5 metres, however, some areas provided no trees or trees too short to count. These were given a value of zero in the data. The estimated canopy coverage was estimated at every two metres by looking up and providing a rough percentage of how the trees covered the immediate surrounding sight. The same methods were used to estimate the vegetative ground cover at these locations. Finally, the total number of flowers were also estimated within the 0.5 metre distance from the transect. Vertebrates and Invertebrates - A 50 meter radius was surveyed using two 25 meter transects placed in a straight line. The total number of vertebrate species that was seen within this radius observed was recorded in a 15 minute interval. The total number of species seen within the 15 minutes was also recorded. Individuals of identifiable taxa were considered a “species”. People that belonged to the lab group were not included in the data. This experiment was performed twice for a total observation time of 30 minutes. Invertebrates – Two 25 metre transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of 50 metres. The first part of the experiment involved placing 6 pan traps that were spread 3 meters apart. The pan traps were placed with alternating colours at each location and the total number of invertebrates were recorded in each. Next, sweep nets were used while walking the entire 50 metre transect length. This was performed 10 times and the total number of invertebrates was recorded after each time the experimenter walked the 50 metres. These were separate methods in which invertebrate numbers were measured.