YorkU.Impermeable.Group04.Oct17.2016

Hypothesis: The “Pond” habitat will contain more organisms than the “Impermeable” habitat.Prediction 1: The abundance of native plants will be higher in the “Pond” habitat than in the “Impermeable” habitat.Prediction 2: The abundance of invertebrates will be higher in the “Pond” habitat than in the “Impermeable” habitat.Observations were made between 3:15 and 4:15 on October 17th 2016 at York University. The research group (GroupID: 04) consisted of Meg, Jasneet, Faras and Ying. It was a foggy day, 19°C, low wind. “Impermeable” habitat was located on the ball diamond at Sitwell Woods (coordinates and elevation listed in datasheet); the transect was placed horizontally across the ball diamond. The “Pond” habitat was located directly to the south-east of Stong Pond (coordinates and elevation listed in datasheet); the transect ran from Nelson road to a few metres from the pond itself.Invertebrate sweeps and pans: Survey conducted using pan trap and sweep nets to record abundance of invertebrates. 6 pan traps (colours: white (2), yellow (2), blue (2)) were placed 3m apart from each other right alongside the transect (50m). The pan traps were left sitting for approximately 35 mins at each grassland site before counting and recording the number of invertebrates. Sweeps (10 replicates) were performed alongside transect (50m) and at the end of each 50m sweep, number of invertebrates were counted and recorded. Replicate (continuous): number of pan traps placed and number of sweeps performed. Pan trap colour (categorical): bright (yellow), neutral (white), and dark (blue) pans placed in alternating series. Abundance.pantraps (discreet): number of species in each pan counted and recorded. Abundance.sweeps (discreet): number of species counted and recorded at the end of every 50m sweep. Abundance.invertebrates: Invertebrate abundance reference from table 2 (or Table 6 in case of Table 5).Vertebrate and invertebrate survey: Survey conducted by placing two 25m transects end to end where TA had directed. A 15 mins timer on Jasneet’s cell phone was used to time the observation period. Once the timer had begun, Meg slowly walked the length of the transect, stopping roughly every two metres to look at the ground more carefully. Vertebrates and humans were counted when seen within 50 m of the transect, invertebrates with 5 m. Counts were tallied in a lab notebook until the timer went off. Replicate (continuous): the 15 mins period. Vertebrate abundance (discreet): Number of individual vertebrates observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 mins period. Vertebrate species (discreet): Number of vertebrate species observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 mins period. Human abundance: Number of individual humans (discreet) observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 mins period. Invertebrate abundance (discreet): Number of individual invertebrates observed within 5 m of the transect within a 15 mins period.Quadrat Survey: Survey conducted by randomly placing quadrat every 2m along the transect (50m), alternating the left and right side. Survey repeated 25 times. Replicate (continuous): referring to the number of times experiment was repeated. Abundance.native.plants (discreet): number of native species inside the quadrant area. Abundance.exotic.plants (discreet): number of exotic (not native to the land) species inside the quadrant area. Abundance.flowers (discreet): number of flower heads present inside the quadrant area.Plant Survey: To measure the abundance of woody plants, canopy cover, ground cover, and total number of flowers, a 50m transect was setup. For every two meters along the transect, the measurements were taken within 0.5m of the transect. Abundance.woody.plants (numerical discreet): measurements was taken by observing either side of the transect at every two meters. Each woody plant that is greater than 1.5m in height and within 0.5m of the transect was counted. Canopy.cover (continuous): At every two meters, measurement was taken by making a rectangle with the hands and looking up to see how much of the rectangle was covered. The measurement canopy cover is an estimated percentage. Ground.cover (continuous): measurement taken at every two meters using the same method aforementioned. This measurement is also an estimated percentage. Abundance.flower (discreet): As with all the previous measurements, this was taken at every two meters as well. Flowers that are within 0.5m of the transect are counted for.<br>