yorku.nearpond.impermeablearea.October18.2016.csv

The purpose of this lab was to identify the abundance of plants, trees, vertebrates and invertebrates in the pond and impermeable habitats. The data for this experiment was collected from the pond and impermeable area located at York University Keele Campus (43.7 degrees North, 75.9 degrees West, elevation 151.322), between The Pond Road and Arboretum Lane at 3:07 pm. It was 24°C with moderate/high winds, drizzling rain, and some peaks of sunshine. Four different experiments were conducted in each habitat - the pond and impermeable area (categorical). It took one hour to collect all of the data for all experiments.
In the first experiment the quadrat was used to observe the abundance of native plants, exotic plants, and the total number of flower heads in the pond and impermeable area which were recorded as continuous data. Two 30m transect tapes were used to measure a transect line of 50 meters. Each quadrat was 1 meter square and the quadrats were placed 2 meters apart on the left and right side of the tape to measure the abundance of plants and total number of flowers. When counting the abundance of exotic grass in both areas, the quadrat was divided into 16 squares and the total number of grass counted on each square was multiplied with 16 to acquire the total number of grass on the whole quadrat. The habitats used in this experiment were recorded as categorical and abundance of plants, and flower heads found were continuous. In the pond and impermeable areas, the native plant, exotic plants and flower heads were observed and counted in the entire quadrat. The trial was repeated 25 times for each habitat therefore, a total of 50 meter square area was observed. It was hypothesized that a higher abundance of plants and flower heads will be observed near the pond compared to the impermeable area. The prediction was made since the pond has greater diversity such as more insects, increasing the pollination rate and more sunlight for higher plant growth whereas the impermeable area is artificially structured and covered by impenetrable materials.
The second experiment was done to collect data about woody plants near the pond and the impermeable area. Using transect tape, a straight line of 50 meters was measured along the pond area. The abundance of woody plants (trees greater than 1.5 meters tall) were counted and recorded every 2 meters along the transect line (continuous). Every other meter along the transect, the percentage of canopy coverage and ground coverage were observed and the continuous data was recorded. Canopy coverage was estimated by forming a square with one’s fingers touching, holding the square toward the sky and observing the area of the square that was filled with leaves (canopy coverage). Ground coverage was estimated by holding the square formed by one’s fingers down toward the ground to observe the amount of vegetation that covered the ground. The continuous data was recorded as the percentage of the square covered by either leaves (canopy) or vegetation (ground) respectively. In addition, the total number of flowers were observed every 5 meters along the transect and recorded as continuous data. A total of 25 replicates were recorded for each continuous variable. The same method was also used to measure the abundance of woody plants and the total number of flowers, measure canopy coverage and ground coverage in the impermeable area. It was hypothesized that the pond area will be more diverse than the impermeable area. Therefore, there will be a greater abundance of woody plants and flowers and a high percentage of canopy coverage near the pond area compared to the impermeable area.
For experiment three, a 50 meter transect was placed along the pond area. The surroundings of a 50 meter radius were then observed for fifteen minutes to observe the abundance of vertebrates, the number of species of vertebrates, and the abundance of humans who were not part of BIOL2050 (continuous). The same method was used in the impermeable area to collect observation data using a 50 metre transect within a 50 metre radius of the abundance of vertebrates, number of species of vertebrates, and abundance of humans who were not part of BIOL2050 in the impermeable area. The second half of the experiment involved placing a 5 metre transect on the pond area, and measuring the abundance of invertebrates within the 5 metre radius for fifteen minutes. The same method of using a 5 metre transect in a 5 metre radius was used to measure the abundance of invertebrates in the impermeable area. It was hypothesized that the abundance of invertebrates and vertebrates will be greater in the pond area than the impermeable area. It was predicted that invertebrates and vertebrates would be more abundant in the pond area because the habitat was better suited for their survival, habitat, and life. It was also hypothesized that there would be a higher abundance of humans in the impermeable area than the pond area. More impermeable areas are destroyed by human interference with their environment, such as building a university parking lot in this habitat.
In the fourth experiment, the pan trap method and sweeping nets were utilized. Two yellow, two white and two blue bowls were placed 3 metres apart from each other in both the pond and impermeable area. Each bowl was completely filled with soapy water and the abundance of invertebrates were observed and recorded by counting the total number of invertebrates found in each bowl an hour later. The diameter of each bowl was 18cm. Overall for the pan trap method there were a total of 12 replications. The second half of the experiment involved placing a 50 metre transect in both the pond and impermeable area using transect tape. Using the sweeping net, which had a length of 90cm and a diameter of 30cm (area of 708 cm2) the abundance of invertebrates were observed and recorded for each habitat (pond and impermeable area). The student walked down the 50 metre transect line 10 times, for a total of 20 replications for the sweeping net experiment. The abundance of invertebrates were recorded as continuous data for both parts of the experiment. It was hypothesized that the greater the diversity of an area, the greater the abundance of invertebrates. Thus it was expected that more invertebrates would be observed in the pond area due less disturbances and increased number and diversity of plants leading to more interactions between the plants and invertebrates.