Lab 2: Field training with plants (transects)

The experiment was performed at grassland located on the Keele campus of York University. It was conducted by a group of four students on the 24th of September 2014 from approximately 3:15pm to 3:45pm and it was a sunny day with temperature between 20°C to 25°C. Firstly, a visible plant species was observed and recorded then a transect tape was randomly placed in a location where the target plant species was found. Along the transect tape, individual target plant species were observed and their distance on the tape in meters were recorded. The height in meters of each plant was measured using another transect tape. The number of leaves and number of flowers on the plant was estimated for each plant sample. The level of crowding was obtained by determining whether or not the plant species was crowded by other plants (in scale of 0 to 3) and the estimation was made by looking at both sides of the transect tape. The data was collected for 20 individual plants of the species Canadian Goldenrod (Solidago Canadensis).