The effects of interference and disturbances on plant height in a disturbed and undisturbed environment.

The data was collected by Bava, Eman, Azeb and Saraswatie (Davi) in the Danby Grassland at York University’s Keele campus on October 15th and 22nd, 2015 between 2:45 pm and 5:00pm. On October 15th, it was approximately 7 °C with regular intervals of light rain. On October 22nd, the temperature was approximately 13 °C with moderate winds and partially cloudy conditions. The grassland composed of mainly small plants, shrubs and grass with small trees located on the perimeter of the area. The grassland was visually divided into two areas based on the level of disturbances. The interior of the grassland was considered to be the undisturbed area while the exterior was the disturbed area. The exterior has an approximate width of 15 meters surrounding the undisturbed interior portion of the grassland. The disturbed area generally has smaller plants when compared to the undisturbed plants in the interior of the grassland due to human disturbances. Vegetation in the interior were taller but very crowded and as a result, was difficult to move around in. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if there is a variation in plant height in a disturbed and undisturbed environment and why. The question being asked was “Can environmental disturbances such as human interference alter the overall height of three different plant species?” We assumed that the plant height for plants in the disturbed environment (exterior portion of the grassland) would be much shorter when compared to the height of plants in the undisturbed area (interior portion of the grassland. The heights of three different plant species, namely, white aster, purple aster and goldenrod, were randomly sampled. These three species of plants were selected as they were the most common in the grassland and were located in both the disturbed an undisturbed areas of the grassland. The plants were identified using a plant guide book and differentiated by their leaves and flowers. Over the two day collection time span, there were 50 samples for each plant species in each sample area (disturbed and undisturbed) for a total of 100 samples for each plant resulting in a total of 300 plant samples. Using a measuring tape, the height was recorded from the base of the plant to its highest point at eye level. Only living plants were sampled.