Effects of Sunlight Coverage and Soil Moisture on Abundance of Plant Species

The dataset for the experiment was collected on October 19,2015 from 2:30 pm- 5:30pm at the York University’s Danby grassland. The weather remained constant at 14 degrees Celsius with winds and mostly clear skies. The grass and soil were slightly moist due to rainfall in the preceding days. The purpose of the experiment was to observe if there is any correlations between the number of plant species in a Danby grassland and the amount of sunlight available and the moisture of the soil that the plants are planted in. In order to conduct the experiment, quadrats were placed throughout the Danby grassland; it was assured that all varying areas of the grassland were covered. After each quadrat was placed the abundance of plants species, the sunlight coverage and the moisture level of the soil were measured. The abundance of plant species was simply obtained by counting the different species within each quadrat. The sunlight coverage was calculated using a scale ranging 0-4 where 0= 0% sun coverage, 1=25% sun coverage, 2=50% sun converge, 3= 75% sun converge and 4= 100% sun coverage. A value was assigned by observing how much of the quadrat’s area was covered by sunlight. Finally, the moisture level of the soil was also calculated using a scale. The scale ranged from 0-3 where 0= completely dry(sand-like), 1= slightly dry, 2= slightly moist and 3= moist. The soil that embedded the plants in each quadrat was felt by hand and then given a corresponding value.The experiment was conducted by 4 students, Savannah, Krystal, Mustafa and Sumera. The group of 4 divided into groups of 2 and each pair conducted 60 replicates.