Ecology BIOL2050 Lab 3 Dataset 4 Bird Species

This data set for the third BIOL2050 lab was conducted in the Stong pond grassland on Tuesday September 29, 2015 at about 4:00 PM. The temperature in the area during the time of data collection was roughly 15 degrees Celsius accompanied by rain and cloud cover with a light breeze. The objective of this dataset was to identify the different species of birds and the frequency of these species in the Stong pond grasslands. A pair of binoculars and transect tape were used to collect this data in the tall grass region of the grassland. First, a transect tape was laid out in the tall grass and 50 meters were measured. Then, my group members and I walked along the transect tape, looking all around us to spot any birds either flying around in the sky, swimming in the pond or walking on land. We used the binoculars to get closer looks at birds that were far away so we could better identify the species. Any birds that were spotted were recorded and these steps were carried out four more times for a total of five replicates. This dataset taught us how the line transect data collection method is very useful when you want to cover a large area quickly and/or are examining mobile organism which obviously were birds in this case. Since it was raining during the time of this data collection, not many birds were spotted and our data doesn’t reflect the true bird population of the Stong pond grassland.本数据集为BIOL2050课程第三次实验的采集数据，采集工作于2015年9月29日（周二）下午约4时在Stong Pond草原开展。数据采集时段该区域气温约为15摄氏度，伴有降雨、阴天及微风。本数据集的研究目标为鉴定Stong Pond草原内的鸟类物种，并统计各物种的出现频次。本次数据采集于草原高草区域开展，使用工具包括双筒望远镜（binoculars）与样带尺（transect tape）。首先在高草区域布设样带尺，量取50米长度的样带；随后我与小组成员沿样带步行，全面扫视四周以发现各类鸟类——包括空中飞行、池塘中游弋及地面行走的个体。对于距离较远的鸟类，我们借助双筒望远镜进行近距离观察，以更准确地鉴定其物种。所有观测到的鸟类均被记录，上述步骤重复四次，最终共完成5次重复采样。通过本次数据采集实践，我们掌握了样带法（line transect method）的应用价值：该方法可快速覆盖大面积区域，尤其适用于移动生物的观测——本实验的观测对象鸟类正是典型的移动生物。由于数据采集时段恰逢降雨，本次观测到的鸟类数量较少，所得数据无法完全反映Stong Pond草原的真实鸟类种群状况。