York University Keele Campus’s WoodLot, Dataset #4

For this afternoon field experiment, held on Monday September 22, 2014, data was collected throughout the York University Keele Campus’s woodlot from approximately 2:40PM - 5:15PM. The actual weather forecast (courtesy of http://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/toronto/m5g/september-weather/55488) for that time of day varied anywhere from as low as 7ᵒC to as high as 15ᵒC. With the use of transects tapes in the designated woodlot, the diameter (already in cm) of ten pairs of selected adult trees (White Oak) of the same species were measured at random from the centre of the adult trunk to its sapling (in meters and converted into centimeters) surface. Important to note was that the saplings were defined as trees that were no higher than relatively twice the height of an average student. As opposed to the grassland, the observable woodlot has an abundance and variation of not only living plant species, but also animals (insects, ladybugs, etc.) apparent in close proximity to each other. The execution component of the study was led by Taylor Noble in conjunction with a group of four males, one of which included myself. All four team members worked collectively as a unit to ensure the most accurate measurements pertaining to the Diameter at Breast Height (DBH), in addition to the distance of its nearest sapling for each and every one of the ten adult White Oak trees scattered across the woodlot. As for the overall determination to the extent of canopy coverage as a percentage, I, myself exclusively took on the responsibility of this rough estimate to avoid any biased judgment(s). To make the data collection valid and convenient, we as a whole chose a tree species that is large, close to saplings, and fairly distinguishable from the diverse categories of tree types evident. For these reasons as well as due to the random dispersal of this tree type throughout the area, we as a group came to the conclusion of randomly studying ten pairs of adult White Oak trees (one adult for every sapling observed) that were a resemblance to one another.

本次野外实验于2014年9月22日周一下午开展，数据采集于约克大学基尔校区林地，时段约为14:40至17:15。当日该时段的实际天气情况（数据来源：http://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/toronto/m5g/september-weather/55488）显示气温区间为7℃至15℃。研究人员在指定林地中使用样带卷尺，随机选取10对同种成年白栎树（White Oak），分别测量其胸径处的树干直径（单位已为厘米）以及从成年树干胸径位置的中心至其对应幼树的距离（原单位为米，已转换为厘米）。需说明的是，本次实验将幼树定义为高度不超过普通学生平均身高两倍的树木。与草原生境不同，本次观测的林地中不仅拥有丰富多样的活植物物种，还存在多种彼此近距离可见的动物（如昆虫、瓢虫等）。本研究的实施工作由泰勒·诺布尔（Taylor Noble）牵头，与包括笔者在内的四名男性组员共同完成。四名组员通力协作，确保对散布于林地的10株成年白栎树的胸径（Diameter at Breast Height，简称DBH）及其距最近幼树的距离进行精准测量。关于冠层覆盖率的百分比估算工作，由笔者独立完成，以避免主观判断偏差。为确保数据采集的有效性与便捷性，本组选定了一种体型高大、附近伴生幼树且易于与其他多样树种区分的树木物种。加之该树种在研究区域内呈随机分布状态，因此本组最终决定随机选取10对形态相似的成年白栎树（对应每一株观测到的幼树）开展研究。