YorkU.PondAndGravel.Oct26-2016.csv - Census 3: Investigating the effects of ground permeability on plants and animals

Studying mediums of vegetation with different permeabilities will help understand anthropocentric impacts in the City of Toronto, as artificial and impervious materials are used in urban infrastructures. Abundance and diversity of herbaceous plants, woody plants, vertebrates, and invertebrates were sampled.<br>Observations were collected by three ecology students between 2:45 PM and 4:15 PM EST on Wednesday, October 26, 2016. On York University’s Keele campus, permeable spaces near Stong Pond and impermeable surfaces of the baseball diamond were used. It was a windy day with temperatures around 5°C. <br><b>census</b>: week number of campus ecology experiments<b>calendar.date</b>: Gregorian calendar date of the field work, stating month and day<b>campus</b>: university location of experiments<b>group_ID</b>: unique name assigned to a group in York University’s campus ecology<b>habitat</b>: general environment of survey area<b>lat</b>: latitude of area, determined by GPS<b>long</b>: longitude of area, determined by GPS<b>elevation</b>: elevation of area, provided by laboratory instructor<b>rep</b>: repetition number of a particular experiment/method<b><br></b><b>Herbaceous Plants</b><b>Hypothesis</b>: The number of native plants, exotic plants, and flowers near Stong Pond and the impermeable area will be different.<b>Predictions</b>: There will be a greater number of native plants, exotic plants, and total number of flowers near Stong Pond compared to the impermeable area due to the fact that changed environmental conditions (human disturbance and gravel) would not allow for plant life to thrive.<b>Outcome</b>: The hypothesis was supported. Greater numbers of native plants, exotic plants, and total number of flowers were near Stong Pond. It is possible that human disturbance and the lack of soil structure and nutrients in the impermeable area contributed to lack of plant growth.<b>Method</b>: Every 2m, a quadrat (1mx1m) was placed along a 50m transect (alternating between right and left sides). Generally, exotic grass were counted through systematic estimation. Plant origin was determined using a search engine. This process was used in permeable and impermeable areas. <b>abundance.native.plants</b>: total number of native herbaceous plants counted within each quadrat. Native plants occur naturally in a particular ecosystem. Discrete data: positive integers. Unit: individuals.<b>abundance.exotic.plants</b>: total number of exotic herbaceous plants counted within each quadrat. Exotic plants are not native to the area of study. Discrete data: positive integers. Unit: individuals.<b>total.number.flowers (quadrat):</b> total number of flowers counted within each quadrat. Discrete data: positive integers. Unit: individuals.<b><br></b><b>Woody Plants</b><b>Hypothesis</b>: There will be a difference between abundance of woody plants, total amount of flowers, canopy coverage, and ground coverage near Stong Pond and in baseball diamond.<b>Predictions</b>: There will be higher amounts of woody plants and flowers, higher canopy coverage, and ground coverage near Stong Pond compared to the baseball diamond. The gravel and human activities will interfere with abiotic and biotic interactions in the impermeable area.<b>Outcome</b>: The hypothesis was supported. There were no flowers, woody plants, grass, and vegetation found in impermeable areas; hence, there were 0% canopy cover and ground cover. Human disturbances, such as people travelling through the baseball diamond, affected soil compaction and nutrient uptake. Moreover, trampled grass and flowers needed more rainfall and nutrients to recover, but gravel absorbs water and blocks sunlight, which caused the soil to be dry and the plants, flowers, trees or any form of vegetation to wilt and die.<b>Method</b>: Two 25m transects were placed near the Stong Pond. Every 2m, total number of trees, canopy coverage, ground coverage, and total number of flowers within 0.5m of the transect were recorded. Trees taller than 1.5m were counted. To measure canopy coverage, a square was made with pointer and thumb, and held up to estimate percentage of canopy coverage. This was also done with ground coverage, but holding the square down. These steps were also done in the impermeable area. <b>abundance.woody.plants</b>: total number of trees taller than 1.5 meters, counted within 0.5 meters at each 2m interval along the 50m transect. Discrete data. Unit:individuals.<b>canopy.cover</b>: estimated by creating a square with researcher’s fingers, and seeing percentage of square covered by leaves.Continuous data. Units:percentage.<b>ground.cover</b>: estimated by creating a square with researcher’s fingers, and seeing percentage of square covered by plants, grass, and shrubs. Continuous data. Units:percentage.<b>total.flower.numbers (transect):</b> total number of flowers found within 0.5 meters per 2m intervals along 50m of transect tape. Discrete data. Unit:number of individuals.<b><br></b><b>Vertebrates &amp; Invertebrates</b><b>Hypothesis:</b> The number of vertebrates and invertebrates will differ between permeable and impermeable areas (i.e. between pond banks and gravel). <b>Predictions: </b>Permeable land was predicted to support more vertebrate and invertebrate life because of factors such as aeration, water movement, and nutrient absorption. Artificial, impervious space was predicted to negatively affect vertebrate and invertebrate populations because of restrictions of abiotic and biotic interactions would impact autotrophic populations, which would have implications on heterotroph populations. <b>Outcome:</b> The hypothesis was supported: more animals appeared by the lake than the baseball diamond. Resources must be more plentiful near the pond. Lakeside animals included loons (the only animals in the water), humans, and seagulls. Animals by the gravel were humans and Canada geese. All non-human animals were flying animals, so it was possible that terrestrial animals were keeping warm or preparing for hibernation. Invertebrates abundances were little; possibly, chilly weather affected their activity. Also, plant experiments reported little vegetation in impermeable surfaces, which correlate with little abundances of vertebrates in the same location. Thus, permeability of the ground seems to affect all trophic levels.<b>Method: </b>As a guideline, 50m of transect tape was placed on the ground (two 25m transect tapes were used). Using 0m as the centre, the number of animals and humans were counted within a 50 metre radius formed by the transect. The survey lasted 15 minutes. Subsequently, invertebrate abundances were measured. Using 5m of transect tape, 0m was used as the centre. For 15 minutes, the number of invertebrates were counted within the 5m radius. The two surveys were replicated in the permeable and impermeable landscapes.<b>abundance.vertebrates: </b>total number of animals observed within a 50m radius for 15 minutes. Discrete data. Unit: individuals.<b>vertebrate.species:</b> total amount of species observed within a 50m radius for 15 minutes. Discrete data. Unit: numbers of species.<b>abundance.human: </b>total number of humans observed within a 50m radius for 15 minutes. Discrete data. Unit: individuals.<b>abundance.invertebrates.observed:</b> total number of invertebrates observed within a 5m radius for 15 minutes. Discrete data. Unit:individuals. <b><br></b><b>Invertebrates</b><b>Hypothesis</b>: There would be a difference between pond and impermeable surface abundances of invertebrates (data collected using pan trap and sweep net sampling methods).<b>Predictions</b>: There would be more invertebrates collected by pan traps and sweep netting near Stong Pond than impermeable surface area (baseball diamond). This is probably due to the lack of soil and vegetation that exists in the baseball diamond area to house invertebrates. Thus, impermeable surface conditions were not suitable for existence of invertebrates and do not promote plant growth.<b>Outcome</b>: The hypothesis was supported. More insects were collected near Stong Pond for pan trap and sweep net sampling techniques. This was probably due to the soil and vegetation that surrounds the area. This shows that the area near Stong Pond provided more suitable habitat for invertebrates.<b>Method</b>: Using the pan trap method, 6 pan traps were filled with soapy water. These traps were each distributed 3m apart along the length of a 50m transect. After 45 minutes, the number of invertebrates in pan traps were counted. A sweep net was used and replicated 10 times. Next to the transects, sweeps were performed and the number of invertebrates in the net were counted. This procedure was repeated for the impermeable surface area (baseball diamond). <b>abundance.invertebrates.pantraps:</b> total number of invertebrates collected and counted using pan trap sampling method near Stong pond and at the baseball diamond. Discrete data. Unit: individuals.<b>abundance.invertebrates.sweepnet</b>: total number of invertebrates collected and counted using the sweep net sampling method near Stong Pond and at the baseball diamond. Discrete data. Unit: individuals.