Study of Plant Abundance, Diversity, and Coverage in a Grassland Ecosystem

On September 21 2015, the research group studied the biodiversity of plants seen in the grassland around Stong Pond on the York University Campus. The experiment occurred between 3:00pm and 4:00pm when temperatures were at 18 degrees Celsius and conditions were partly cloudy. During the study, plant abundance, species count, vegetation coverage and grass coverage were determined within a quadrat, for 25 randomly chosen locations throughout the grassland. Although locations were randomly chosen, the data obtained portrays the contrasting conditions throughout the ecosystem. Species that were commonly seen during the observations include Solidago canadensis (Canadian Goldenrod), Lotus corniculatus (Birdfoot Trefoil), Cirsium vulgare (Common Thistle), Aster ericoides (Heath Aster), Aster prenathoides (Late Purple Aster), and Xanthium strumarium (Common Cocklebur). All the data obtained during the study was based on visual observations of the quadrat; other than the quadrat no external measurement tools were used. Michael Chu, Diana Pik and Aisha Choudhry helped with obtaining the field data.