The Comparison of R.cathartica and Acer at Danby's Woodlot

The data was collected on October 14th, and October 21st, 2015 at Danby’s Woodlot located at York University Keele Campus. At the beginning of the data collection, a member from the group noted down the time, weather conditions, and other information about the woodlot then proceeded towards data collection. To begin with, a 100m transect using the tape measures was set up from a randomly chosen edge to the middle of the woodlot. The samples were taken at every 5m starting from 0m that were labelled as station in a consecutive order. At each station sample 1, 2, 3 were taken on the right side of transect by Reena and Olivia. On the other side, sample 4 to 6 were taken by Fara, Huda, and Ratiba. To obtain the samples, a 2mX2m quadrat was set up using the tape measures; in which , the following was collected. First, the abundance of native seedlings in the quadrat was determined by counting the number of native seedlings present in the quadrat. The native plant that was incorporated for the native tree seedling sample was Acer. Since, it was observed as the dominant native species in the woodlot. Moreover, the seedlings of 50-120cm, and with orange, green, red and yellow maple leaves were visually determined and counted. Secondly, the abundance of R.cathartica shrub was determined. In the quadrat to do this large trees with black berried along with smaller plants about the same size as the Acer seedlings were incorporated. These R.cathartica was visually identified based on the leaf shape, and the presence of black berries on the large trees. In addition, the unchanged colour green made the invader more distinguishable. Third, percentage of light in each quadrat was measured by standing at a random point in the quadrat. The extent of canopy coverage was determined to see how much light is reaching the ground. A square is made using the fingers of the observer and held up. The percentage of the square not covered by the trees is the percentage of light reaching the ground. This information was collected for each variable.本数据集的采集工作于2015年10月14日及21日开展，地点为约克大学基尔校区（York University Keele Campus）的丹比林地（Danby’s Woodlot）。数据采集开始前，团队一名成员先记录了采集时间、天气状况及该林地的相关基础信息，随后启动数据采集流程。 首先，研究人员使用卷尺沿随机选取的林地边缘至林中央布设一条100米的样带（transect）。以0米位置为起点，每隔5米设置一个样点（station），并按连续顺序对样点进行编号。其中，Reena与Olivia在样带右侧采集了1至3号样本，Fara、Huda及Ratiba则在样带另一侧采集了4至6号样本。 为获取样本，研究人员使用卷尺布设2米×2米的样方（quadrat），并针对以下内容完成数据收集： 其一，统计样方内本地实生苗的丰度：计数样方中存在的本地实生苗总数。本次研究选取的本地树木实生苗目标类群为槭属（Acer）植物，因其为该林地的优势本地物种。此外，研究人员还视觉识别并计数了株高介于50至120厘米、叶片呈橙、绿、红、黄色的槭树实生苗。 其二，统计R.cathartica灌木的丰度：在样方内，选取结有黑色浆果的高大植株，以及与槭树实生苗尺寸相近的小型植株作为统计对象。该类R.cathartica灌木可通过叶形、高大植株上的黑色浆果进行视觉识别，其始终保持的绿色也让这一入侵物种更易被辨识。 其三，测量每个样方的光照百分比：在样方内随机选取一点站位，由观察者用手指围成正方形并举起，通过该正方形未被树木遮挡的比例估算冠层覆盖度，以此反映到达地面的光照量，该比例即为到达地面的光照百分比。 所有上述变量的相关采集信息均按上述流程完成。