Species Diversity and Relationships amongst Interacting Plant Species

Methods: In order to better understand species diversity and relationships amongst potentially interacting species, a study was conducted on 14th October 2014 and 21st October 2014 at the Saywell Woodlot located at York University’s Keele campus (43° 46' 9.228"N, 79° 30' 29.556’’W). Beginning with laying a 100ft transect from the edge of the woodlot (closest to The Pond Rd) at a relatively straight line, to the centre of the woodlot, 25 adult trees were chosen using simple random sampling. Each tree was measured for tree diameter at breast height (ft), plant abundance within a 1.0m radius surrounding the tree, number of unique recognizable taxonomic units (rtus) as well as the type of landscape, canopy coverage and soil pH. To maintain consistency, only deciduous trees located 2-3ft perpendicular to the transect were observed and measured. An adult tree was classified as approximately 12.0ft or taller. This experiment was repeated once more the following week (10/21/14) for a total replication of 50 trees. In order to prevent measuring the same trees, the replication numbers 25-30 were measured from edge of the woodlot closest to Shoreham Dr.