Human Impact on Plant Abundance

This data was collected in the course of two days. The first was Monday October 19th, from 2:30-4:30, and the second day was Monday October 26th within the same time frame. Both days were chilly, around 15 degrees Celcius, and cloudy with some sun. The wind on both days was quite fast, around 5-6 on the Beaufort Wind Scale. The data was collected around Danby woods at York University. Specifically, it was completed in the grassland, just South of the woods and West of Keele street. The area that was encompassed was up to 200 feet West of Keele street and around 150 feet South of Danby woods. The plant species that was chosen was <em>T officinale</em>, more commonly known as dandelions. This species was chosen due to its hardiness and ability to survive in difficult conditions. If there was a change in abundance, it would be because of extreme conditions such as air pollution or soil damage. Quadrats were used for the random sampling technique. This was done to simplify what pieces of garbage were counted. Only those inside the placed quadrat were considered to have an effect on plant abundance. The area was divided into three categories of differing distances: 0-60 feet, 60-110 feet, and 110-200 feet. This was done to see if proximity to gasoline and air pollution had any harmful effects on plant abundance. 50 quadrats were placed in each section of distances, and plants were counted inside the quadrat. If any pieces of garbage were present, they were also counted. This lab goes further to help develop and complete a self-designed experiment, using random sampling techniques. Lab partners were Abera, Sufyan, Alex, and Frankie.