Bio2050 Lab 4.xlsx

Meta Data:

Site:  Denotes the site the
belt transect data was collected from. Specifies the location in which the
transects were placed.  The two sites for
this experiment were Grassland and Danby woodlot next to York University.

Species/RTU: An educated guess was made using the RTU
(recognizable taxonomic unit) of each bird spotted along the transect to
identify the specie.  RTU was used as a way
to deduce the species of the organism using quick observance of its
morphological features or sound made. This is a method of identifying the
birds, since they were often far away and flew quickly.

Abundance: This describes the number of birds spotted while
walking along the transect. Each transect were observed for 5 minutes to see
how many birds would move into the area, so as to take into account the
mobility and therefore inconsistency of bird population at a particular time.
The birds were counted if they were within 10meters of the transect.

Wind speed:   Wind speed was
determined each time a bird was spotted along the transect. For this particular
experiment the wind scale ranged from a scale of 2-3.     Estimated with the observer’ eyes and without any reference to
any published scale.

Distance: The distance could range from 0 to 10 metres. Each time
a bird was spotted within the radius on either side of the transect, they were
recorded and the distance from the transect to the bird was estimated. The
distance estimates were made by the observer in other to be as accurate as
possible.

Description:

The
purpose of this experiment was to measure the abundance and species of birds in
Danby woodlot relative to its nearby grassland The experiment took place on
September 28th, 2016, from 3:00-4:30 pm. Data were collected at the woodlots
and grassland nearby York University at an approximate coordinate of 43.77,
-79.49 according to phone GPSs.  The temperature
was approximately 20˚C, windy and clear skies.

Methods:

The experiment was replicated a total of ten times, with
five at the woodlot site and five at the grassland site.  A transects measuring out 25 foot was placed
randomly in each site five times. After laying down the transect, a designated
observer was asked to walk along the transect. The observer simply walks along
the transect, recording all birds detected along the way or nearby. In order to
be consistent each observer covered each transect in the same amount of time of
approximately five minutes. We recorded the birds seen or heard along and
nearby the transect. To obtain the species name, an educated guess based on
prior knowledge and an identification key was used. For example, we were able
to identify a blue jay by the sound it makes. We made sure the transect
location were as random as possible to maximize the chance of seeing more birds
and to get a more diverse set of data.

Hypothesis: I hypothesized that there would be fewer bird
sightings in the grassland compared to the woodlot because woodlots provided a better
nesting area and food source than the grassland. More trees to pollinate in the
woodlot area and trees to grow their nest in.

Prediction 1: There will be more birds in the woodlots as
opposed to grassland

Prediction 2: More species will be found in which ever site
has the most abundance of birds.

元数据：

样点（Site）：指采集带状样带（belt transect）数据的场地，用于划定样带的布设位置。本实验的两个样点分别为约克大学（York University）附近的草地与丹比林地（Danby woodlot）。

物种/可识别分类单元（recognizable taxonomic unit, RTU）：本研究通过对沿样带观测到的每只鸟类的可识别分类单元（RTU）进行合理推断，以确定其物种。可识别分类单元（RTU）指通过快速观察鸟类的形态特征或鸣叫声，来推断其所属物种的识别方法。由于鸟类通常距离较远且飞行速度较快，该方法被用于本次鸟类识别工作。

多度（Abundance）：指沿样带行走时观测到的鸟类总数量。每条样带均开展5分钟的观测，以统计迁入该区域的鸟类数量，从而考量鸟类种群在特定时间内的移动性与种群不稳定性。仅统计距离样带10米范围内的鸟类。

风速（Wind speed）：每次沿样带观测到鸟类时，均记录当时的风速。本实验中风速等级介于2~3级之间，该风速由观测者通过目视估算，未参照任何公开的风速等级标准。

距离（Distance）：距离范围为0~10米。每当观测到样带两侧半径范围内的鸟类时，均记录该鸟类与样带之间的估算距离，该距离由观测者尽可能精准地估算得出。

实验概况：
本实验旨在对比丹比林地与邻近草地的鸟类多度与物种组成。实验于2016年9月28日15:00至16:30开展，数据采集于约克大学附近的林地与草地，对应手机GPS定位坐标约为43.77, -79.49。当日气温约20℃，有风且天气晴朗。

实验方法：
本实验共重复开展10次，其中林地样点与草地样点各5次。每次实验均在对应样点随机布设一条长25英尺的样带，本次实验共开展5次布设。完成样带布设后，由指定观测者沿样带行走，记录沿途及附近观测到的所有鸟类。为保证观测一致性，每位观测者完成每条样带观测的时长均约为5分钟。研究人员记录沿样带及周边所见或听闻的鸟类，通过过往知识与鸟类鉴定手册进行合理推断以确定物种名称，例如通过鸣叫声识别冠蓝鸦（blue jay）。为最大化观测到鸟类的概率并获取更具多样性的数据，样带布设位置尽可能保持随机。

研究假设：
本研究假设：相较于邻近草地，丹比林地的鸟类目击数量更多，原因在于林地相较于草地能提供更优质的筑巢场所与食物来源：林地拥有更多可供授粉的树木，以及可供鸟类筑巢的林木。

预测1：相较于草地样点，林地样点将观测到更多鸟类。

预测2：鸟类多度更高的样点，其观测到的鸟类物种数量也更多。