The correlation between the abundance of exotic plants species and the distance from the pond, at York University's Pond.

Description: This experiment was a part of Campus-Ecology at York University. Undergraduate Ecology students obtained data in a pond-area and an impermeable area under a temperate climate, (roughly 20 degrees Celsius), cloudy skies with no direct exposure to natural light (sun), weather conditions were cloudy with high winds (60km/hr). The coordinates for latitude, longitude, and elevation for impermeable are as follows: LAT (43.768235) LONG (-79.50731) ELAV (137.67579). The coordinates for latitude, longitude, and elevation for the pond are as follows: LAT (43.770577) LONG (-79.50663) ELAV (151.32195). Hypothesis: There is a negative correlation between number of exotic species and the distance from the pond. Prediction: There is a negative correlation between the number of exotic plant species and the distance from the pond meaning that the closer you are to the pond; the more exotic species of plants you can see. This is because the closer towards the pond, the higher the quality of the soil. Biodiversity is also higher. Methods: Person 1-Herbaceous Plants (Raghavan"Ray") In a pond-area two transects were placed in a straight line- end to end to cover 50 meters. A 1m x 1m quadrat was randomly tossed (roughly 1 metre away from the transect). Place the next quadrat on the other side of the transect 2 meters down from the last quadrat and continue to alternate (left, right). For every quadrat that was tossed, estimate the percent coverage of native, and exotic plant species. Finally, make a rough estimate of the total number of plant species within the quadrat. For areas that only have grass within the quadrat-count that as a 100% percentage of native plant species. Furthermore, when calculating total number of plant species takes a 10cm square area of the quadrat and estimate the number of blades of grass. Multiply that number by 10 to account for the total area of the quadrat. Repeat procedure in an impermeable area. Person 2-Woody Plants (Mohamed) For the experiment that was conducted on October 18th 2016, the materials used were two transects that were 25 meters long. The transects were placed as straight as possible along a land that wasn’t leveled along a 50-meter distance. Every two meters on the transect on both sides 0.5 meters the following data were recorded: the abundance of woody plants and its canopy, the number of flowers and the vegetation ground coverage. In total there were 25 individual counts per data. For both pond and impermeable area, the same methods were used. Impermeable area is any place that nothing can enter and exit. Person 3-Vertebrates & Invertebrates (Amir) 2 Transacts were stacked one after each other in a straight line to cover a distance of 50 meters in the pond area. At the tip of the 50 meters line a radius of 50 meters was calculated. This was then followed by calculating the abundance of vertebrates and the number of different species was also counted. The abundance of humans within the 50 meters radius was counted also at the same time. 2 trials of counting the abundance of vertebrates and humans and the number of different vertebrate species was performed within a 15 minute time frame. A similar performance was performed to calculate the abundance of invertebrates observed. This time a 5 meter radius from 15 meters to 10 meters on the transact was taken and the abundance of invertebrates was calculated within the 5 meter radius circle. 2 trails were performed within a 15 minute time frame. A similar procedure was performed in the impermeable area. The only difference in the procedures was that the distance on the transact to calculate the abundance of invertebrates observed was from 9 meters to 4 meters. Person 4-Invertebrates (Hamid) The experiment was done at York university’s Pond and Impermeable area being the baseball diamond court on October, 18th, 2016 at 2:30pm. Two 25-meter transects were placed together to create a 50-meter long transect which was placed along a non- level land. The transect line was approximately a straight line. 6 pan traps filled with soup water were placed 3-meters apart starting at the beginning of the transect. There were three different colour pan traps; yellow, blue, and white. The plates were placed in order of color. The order that the cups were placed was blue, yellow and then white. This sequence of plates was repeated one more time with the same blue, yellow and white sequence giving us a total of 6 plates which were 3-meters apart on the transect. Using a net, the 50-meter transect line was sweeped and the number of abundance invertebrate sweeps were recorded. Every time a sweep was done, the abundance invertebrate pan traps was also recorded for all six pan traps. Every sweep was done approximately two minutes apart and pan traps were counted two minutes apart. The sweeping along the 50-meter transect was done ten times. The same experiment was repeated on a disturbed are. Metadata: Person 1: Abundance of native plants – A numerical value (in percent) of native plant species within a quadrat. Native refers to flora that is historically and native to the region. Abundance of exotic plants – A numerical value (in percent). Exotic refers to an invasive species that is introduced (intentionally or accidentally) to the region. Total number of plant species- Is a discrete numerical number of total flower heads observed within a quadrat. A head would refer to the connecting stem that connects a bulb of flowers. In areas with only grass you estimate the number of grass blades within the quadrat. Person 2: Abundancy of woody plants: The total number of trees that were observed both sides in a 0.5-meter distance. For a tree to be considered a woody plant, it must be greater than 1.5 meters in height. This data is numerical discrete. Canopy cover: The canopy percentage was taken at arm’s length. The tree’s canopy was determined by making a square with hands that were approximately 15cm width and 8 cm length. The percentage was an estimation based on the amount of leaves in the square to the sky. In other words, when watching the square, the estimation was made based on the amount of light that was seen through the leafs. This data is numerical continuous. Total number of plants: Of all plant species were recorded. This data is numerical discrete. Vegetation percentage: the ratio between all plant species and grass species were estimated. This data is numerical continuous. Gravel was considered to have zero vegetation ground cover. Person 3: Vertebrate: Vertebrates are species which have spinal cords, vertebrae and notochords. Invertebrates: Invertebrates are species that don't possess a vertebral column. Abundance of vertebrates: The total number of vertebrates species observed within the 50 meters radius circle, data is continuous. Vertebrate Richness: The total number of different species observed within the 50 meters radius circle, data is continuous. Abundance of humans: The total number of humans observed within the 50 meters radius circle, data is continuous. Abundance of invertebrates observed: The total number of invertebrates observed within the 5 meters radius circle, data is continuous. Person 4: Abundance invertebrate pan traps: The total number of invertebrate individuals found in the 6 colored plates filled with soup water which was recorded every 2 minutes. This type of data is numerical discrete Abundance invertebrate sweeps: The total number of invertebrate individuals caught in the net sweeping along the 50-meter transect. This type of data is numerical discrete Pan traps: Plates filled with approximately 50ml soap water to trap insects. The colors were in order of blue, yellow and white. Invertebrates: Invertebrates are animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column, derived from the notochord.实验说明：本实验为约克大学校园生态学（Campus-Ecology at York University）项目的组成部分。生态学专业本科生在温带气候（约20℃）、阴天无直射日光、风速达60km/h的天气条件下，于池塘区域与不透水区域采集数据。 不透水区域的经纬度及海拔坐标如下：纬度（LAT）43.768235，经度（LONG）-79.50731，海拔（ELAV）137.67579；池塘区域的经纬度及海拔坐标如下：纬度（LAT）43.770577，经度（LONG）-79.50663，海拔（ELAV）151.32195。 研究假设：外来物种数量与距池塘的距离呈负相关关系。 研究预测：外来植物物种数量与距池塘的距离呈负相关，即距池塘越近，观测到的外来植物物种越多。其原因为距池塘越近，土壤质量越高，生物多样性也更为丰富。 方法1：草本植物调查（拉格哈万“雷”，Raghavan"Ray"） 在池塘区域设置两条首尾相连的直线样带(transect)，总长度为50米。随机放置1m×1m的样方(quadrat)，样方与样带间距约1米；下一个样方设置于样带另一侧，与前一样方间隔2米，依次交替进行左侧、右侧轮换。对每个放置的样方，估算本土植物与外来植物的盖度百分比，并粗略统计样方内植物总物种数。 若样方内仅生长草本植物，则记为本土植物盖度100%。此外，计算植物总物种数时，需在样方内选取10cm×10cm的区域估算草叶数量，再乘以10以换算至整个样方的总面积。上述实验流程同样在不透水区域重复进行。 方法2：木本植物调查（Mohamed） 本实验于2016年10月18日开展，所用器材为两条长度25米的样带，以尽可能笔直的方式铺设于非平整地面，总跨度50米。沿样带每间隔2米，在样带两侧各0.5米范围内记录以下数据：木本植物及其冠层的丰度、开花数量以及植被地面盖度。每项数据共记录25次。池塘区域与不透水区域均采用相同实验流程。 注：不透水区域指任何物质无法自由进出的区域。 方法3：脊椎动物(vertebrate)与无脊椎动物(invertebrate)调查（Amir） 在池塘区域设置两条首尾相连的直线样带，总长度50米。以50米样带的端点为圆心，划定半径50米的圆形区域，在15分钟内完成2次重复计数：统计该圆形区域内脊椎动物的丰度、不同脊椎动物物种的数量，以及人类的数量。 针对无脊椎动物，在样带上选取15米至10米的区段，以该段中点为圆心划定半径5米的圆形区域，同样在15分钟内完成2次重复计数，统计该区域内无脊椎动物的丰度。 上述实验流程在不透水区域重复进行，唯一差异为无脊椎动物调查的样带区段调整为9米至4米。 方法4：无脊椎动物调查（Hamid） 本实验于2016年10月18日下午2:30在约克大学池塘区域与不透水区域（棒球场）开展。将两条25米长的样带拼接为总长度50米的直线样带，铺设于非平整地面。在样带起点处开始，每隔3米放置1个诱捕盘(pan trap)，共设置6个，分为黄、蓝、白三种颜色，放置顺序为蓝、黄、白，该顺序重复一次，最终共6个诱捕盘，间距3米。 使用捕网沿50米样带进行扫网采样，记录每次扫网采集到的无脊椎动物丰度，同时每2分钟记录一次6个诱捕盘内的无脊椎动物丰度。每次扫网间隔约2分钟，诱捕盘计数同样间隔2分钟，共完成10次扫网采样。上述实验流程在扰动区域重复进行。 元数据： 人员1相关变量： - 本土植物丰度：样方内本土植物物种的盖度百分比（数值型）。本土植物指历史上原产于该区域的植物区系。 - 外来植物丰度：样方内外来植物物种的盖度百分比（数值型）。外来物种指人为有意或无意引入该区域的入侵物种。 - 植物总物种数：样方内观测到的总花头数量（离散数值型）。花头指连接花簇的茎干；若样方内仅生长草本植物，则估算样方内的草叶数量以换算总物种数。 人员2相关变量： - 木本植物丰度：样带两侧各0.5米范围内观测到的木本植物总数量（离散数值型）。木本植物指高度大于1.5米的植物。 - 冠层盖度：以臂长为基准进行估算的冠层百分比。通过双手搭建近似15cm宽、8cm长的方形框，以框内叶片遮挡天空的透光比例估算冠层盖度（连续数值型）。 - 植物总数量：记录的所有植物物种个体数（离散数值型）。 - 植被盖度百分比：所有植物物种与草本植物物种的占比估算值（连续数值型）。砾石区域视为植被盖度为0。 人员3相关变量： - 脊椎动物：拥有脊髓、脊椎与脊索的动物类群。 - 无脊椎动物：不具有脊椎柱的动物类群。 - 脊椎动物丰度：半径50米圆形区域内观测到的脊椎动物总数量（连续数值型）。 - 脊椎动物物种丰富度：半径50米圆形区域内观测到的不同脊椎动物物种总数（连续数值型）。 - 人类丰度：半径50米圆形区域内观测到的人类总数量（连续数值型）。 - 无脊椎动物丰度：半径5米圆形区域内观测到的无脊椎动物总数量（连续数值型）。 人员4相关变量： - 诱捕盘无脊椎动物丰度：每2分钟记录的6个盛有皂水的彩色诱捕盘中发现的无脊椎动物总个体数（离散数值型）。 - 扫网无脊椎动物丰度：沿50米样带扫网采集到的无脊椎动物总个体数（离散数值型）。 - 诱捕盘：盛有约50ml皂水以诱捕昆虫的托盘，颜色顺序为蓝、黄、白。 - 无脊椎动物：不具有或发育过程中不形成脊椎柱的动物类群，起源于脊索动物。