Ecology Lab 4-Own Experiment Dataset

<p>Group members: Harshvir Hehar, Amrutha Balamurgan, Olivia Kazmierczak, Adilah Ismail. This study took place at the Grasslands in York University. There was a lot of grass, plants, and leaves in the Grasslands. However due to the cold temperatures a lot of the species were dying. This experiment took place on a span of two days. The data was collected on Thursday, October 15, 2015 and Thursday, October 22, 2015. 80 White Aster species were observed the first day and 58 were observed on the second day. On October 15 the temperature was 10 but it was really windy and it was raining quite a lot. It was quite cold and gloomy outside. On October 22 the temperature was 15 and it was still cold but it was sunny out. Due to the cold temperatures outside the White Aster species that we were observing were dying out. Also due to the cold temperatures our abundance was quite low as all the other species in the Grasslands were also dying. The sampling size of this study is 138 White Aster flowers. Our goal was to collect data on 80 White Aster species but we managed to do 138. This data was collected by setting out 1m by 1m quadrats randomly in the Grasslands but selecting for places where the species were found. We mostly sampled in areas with not so tall grass. All the White Aster species that were in the quadrat were counted. Some of the places where we had set up the quadrats had high grass abundance some had less but in general there was a lot of grass. The purpose of this data was to collect data on the White Aster species that were found in the Grasslands. We measured the number of leaves by counting them with our fingers. We counted all the leaves that were greater than 3 centimeters. We also measured the height of the plant in centimeters by using a transect and abundance was estimated. The abundance was estimated by looking at a small sample and multiplying that by the total area. This study was conducted to see if there is a correlation between the plant height and the number of leaves that a plant has relating to its density (abundance).</p

Lab 2: Woodlot Dataset 4

<p>Group members: Harshvir Hehar, Amrutha Balamurgan, Olivia Kazmierczak, Adilah Ismail. This study took place at the Woodlots in York University. The sampling size of this study was 10 pairs (or 20 trees in total) of adult and sapling Maple trees that were randomly selected. We considered trees that had a diameter breast height of 3.5 and under a sapling maple tree and anything above 3.5 was considered an adult maple tree. This data was collected by walking around in the York Woodlots. We were looking around for a pair of an adult and sapling maple trees in close proximity to one another. The purpose of this study was to collect data regarding the distance between an adult maple tree and the closest sapling maple tree (how far the adult and sapling trees are from one another). The diameter breast height was taken of both the trees along with the adult tree’s coverage.</p

Ecology Lab 3 Dataset 1

<p>Group members: Harshvir Hehar, Amrutha Balamurgan, Olivia Kazmierczak, Adilah Ismail. This study took place at the Woodlots and Grasslands in York University. The temperature outside was around 15 C but it was quite sunny. The cold temperatures influenced our data significantly. Since it was so cold outside we were not able to see that many organisms. So our abundance was quite low on the organisms. Also we might not have been able to see a lot of the organisms as they could be embedded in the dirt. The sampling size of this study was 20 quadrats in total. The quadrats were randomly set up in both these sites. This data was collected by setting up ten quadrats in the Woodlot and the other ten were set up in the Grassland. The quadrats were randomly set up in these sites. Some of the places where the quadrats were set up it was shady, some places were sunny, or the ground was moist in some cases. In the woodlots the quadrats that were set up had a lot of leaves and garbage in it. In the Grasslands the quadrats had a lot of grass in it. The quadrats were observed in pairs for a time of 1 minute (timed with a stop watch) per each quadrat. In this minute any organism that was spotted was recorded. We recorded any organism that was in the quadrat or that came into the quadrat in that 1 minute time. The purpose of this study was to collect data on the living organisms that were seen in the quadrats at different sites and determine the abundance and RTU of the observed species and compare the results.</p