YorkU.forest.oct5-2016.csv

Meta data:

 Abundance native plants: The number of individuals of a native plant species
seen in the quadrat. Only green, living individuals were considered in this
value. Individuals whose leaves were in the quadrat but their roots were
outside the quadrat were not considered.  A plant species was considered native
according to the lab technician's description.

 Abundance exotic plants: The number of individuals of an exotic plant species
seen in the quadrat. Only green, living individuals were considered in this
value. Individuals whose leaves were in the quadrat but their roots were
outside the quadrat were not considered. A plant species was considered exotic
according to the lab technician's identification.

Total number of flowers: The total number of flowers visible in the quadrat.
Only living flowers were considered in this value, but flowers present could be
of any maturity. Individuals with flowers must have roots inside the quadrat
for the flower to be considered. 

Abundance woody plants: The number of individuals of woody plants seen
within 0.5m of the left and right side of the transect. Only living individuals
were considered in this value. A woody plant must be greater than 1.5m in
height to be considered in this value. The woody plant must not be uprooted for
it to be considered.  

Canopy Cover:  This data describes the percentage of sky
covered by trees in an upward perspective. “Canopy covered” is used to
represent how much light is blocked by trees. The data was collected by putting
our hands in a way to form a square and keeping it toward the sky and
estimating which percentage of the square does not let light through. The same
area square was used in each measurement. Only one perspective was considered
for each data value.

Ground cover: This data
describes the percentage of ground that was covered by vegetation
within a 1m radius of where standing. Estimations were made by dividing the
visual area directly below feet into smaller sections and adding the sum area
covered by any vegetation within the total area.

Total number of flowers: The total number of flowers visible within 0.5m of
the left and right side of the transect. Only living flowers were considered in
this value, but flowers could be of any maturity. Woody plants with flowers
must be living and not uprooted for the flower to be considered.

Abundance vertebrates: The total number of individuals
taxonomically classified as a vertebrate that was visible within a 50m radius
of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes. Individuals
were counted by sight in that time. Any species with recognizable vertebrate
morphology were considered. Any participants of the lab were not considered in
the count.

Vertebrate species: The number of different recognizable
species visible within a 50m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area
was observed for 15 minutes. Any vertebrate with clear morphological
characteristics unique to other vertebrates in the area were considered to be
its own species group. This data was counted by sight. Any participants of the
lab were not considered in the count. 

Abundance human: The total number of humans seen within
a 50m radius of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15
minutes. Any participants of the lab were not considered in the count.

Abundance invertebrates pan traps: The total number of individual insects
visible in the soapy water of one single pan trap 1.5 hours after it had been
set. Invertebrates were counted by sight. Any species with recognizable morphology
of an invertebrate were considered. Any individuals not in the soapy water were
excluded from the count. Pan traps used were of identical size and contained
relatively equal volumes of soapy water.

Abundance invertebrates sweeps: The total number of individuals
taxonomically classified as an invertebrate that was visible in the sweep net
after a swift and repetitive figure eight movement along a transect for 50m.
Individuals were counted by sight. Any species with recognizable invertebrate
morphology were considered.

Abundance invertebrates observed: The total number of individuals
taxonomically classified as an invertebrate that was visible within a 5m radius
of a central location in the woodlot. Area was observed for 15 minutes.
Individuals were counted by sight in that time. Any species with recognizable
invertebrate morphology were considered.

Cite
description:

Data was
collected in the Danby Woodlot found outside of York University campus on a
Wednesday of early October around 3:00pm. There was a clear sky, little to no
wind and a temperature of 20oC. The woodlot consisted of a very
shaded area containing many trees and vegetation. Twigs, leaves, branches and
litter covered the ground. A grassland was nearby. A dispersed crowd of 18 York
University students and one TA were walking within the area collecting
different samples.  

Hypothesis:
We Hypothesized that the closer the trees are to one another, the less
canopy cover they would have because the two plants will fight for the same
resources preventing them from reaching maximum growth.

Prediction 1: If the two or
more trees are closer than 0.5 meter from each other, the percentage of canopy
cover will be less than 20%.

Prediction 2: If the two or
more trees are farther than 0.5 meter from each other, the canopy cover will be
greater than 20%. 

Methods:

The tree data was collected
at the Danby woodlot on the York University campus for all four data sets.

Herbaceous plants – Two 25
metre transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of
50 metres. Every two metres a quadrat was randomly placed while alternating
right and left from the transect for a total of 25 replications. The total
number of native plant species were estimated in the quadrat as well as exotic
plants. The type of species known to be exotic and native were provided before
the experiment was conducted. Also, the total number of flower heads in each
quadrat were recorded and zeros were given when there were no plants or flowers
present. This was performed with two individuals where one moved the quadrats
according to the appropriate position and the other recorded the data present.

Woody Plants - Two 25 metre
transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of 50
metres. The experimenters looked for a tree on either side of the transect that
was within 0.5 metres for every two metres along the transect. A tree was
considered to be any woody plant that was taller than 1.5 metres, however, some
areas provided no trees or trees too short to count. These were given a value
of zero in the data. The estimated canopy coverage was estimated at every two
metres by looking up and providing a rough percentage of how the trees covered
the immediate surrounding sight. The same methods were used to estimate the
vegetative ground cover at these locations. Finally, the total number of
flowers were also estimated within the 0.5 metre distance from the transect.

Vertebrates and
Invertebrates - A 50 meter radius was surveyed using two 25 meter transects
placed in a straight line. The total number of vertebrate species that was seen
within this radius observed was recorded in a 15 minute interval. The total
number of species seen within the 15 minutes was also recorded. Individuals of
identifiable taxa were considered a “species”. People that belonged to the lab group
were not included in the data. This experiment was performed twice for a total
observation time of 30 minutes.

Invertebrates – Two 25 metre
transects were spread out in a straight line for a total measurement of 50
metres. The first part of the experiment involved placing 6 pan traps that were
spread 3 meters apart. The pan traps were placed with alternating colours at
each location and the total number of invertebrates were recorded in each.
Next, sweep nets were used while walking the entire 50 metre transect length.
This was performed 10 times and the total number of invertebrates was recorded
after each time the experimenter walked the 50 metres. These were separate
methods in which invertebrate numbers were measured.