Field Sample Training with Plants - Sampling tree populations & communities with transects and trait sampling techniques

Methods:

In order to sample the woodlot, a transect measuring tape
was used to measure a straight line from the edge of the woodlot to the center.
Every instance we encountered an adult tree that was twice our height, we
recorded the distance from one tree to the next, the diameter at breast height
(dbh) of each tree, and its condition (0=dead, 1=living, 2=huge green canopy).
This data was recorded for 10 pairs of trees, which is 20 trees in total.

Study Site:
This study took place on September 22, 2016 in Danby
Woods at York University Keele Campus, Ontario, Canada. The weather was very hot and sunny with
a little bit of rain and approximately 25 °C. Transect measuring tapes were
used as equipment and to make measurements with.

Hypothesis:

There is a correlation between the distance as you go
into the center of the woodlot and the living condition of trees because in the
center of the woodlot, there are less environmental disturbances such as wind,
allowing those trees to live longer. Also, since there is less sunlight in the
center, as other tree canopies act as shade, trees that already have grown
prevent new trees from growing, so trees near the center of the woodlot are
bigger and older and trees near the edge are smaller and younger.

Predictions:

1) As you go deeper into the woodlot, there will be more
trees that are huge green canopies because those trees are older and have been
able to live long because of less disturbances compared to trees at the edge of
the woodlot.

2) As you go deeper into the woodlot, trees will grow
closer together and the distance between 2 trees will decrease because
sunshine is limited and trees want to cluster to share the nutrients and
sunlight.

3) As you go deeper into the woodlot, the diameter of
tree at breast height will increase because the trees in the center are bigger
and older.

Metadata:

Pair - Categorical - A pair of two trees were sampled and
used to gather data.

Distance apart (m) - Continuous - A transect measuring
tape was used to measure the distance from one tree to the next tree
encountered on the transect tape. Measurements were in meters.

Dbh (cm) - Continuous - A measuring tape was used to
measure the diameter at breast height of each tree encountered. Measurements
were in centimeters.

Condition  -
Categorical - The following scale was used to categorize the living condition
of each tree encountered: 0=dead, 1=living, 2=huge green canopy. Condition was determined
by visual observation.

Group members:

Krysten Zarivnij, Avani Abraham, Monica Matta