DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4059948
title: The abundance of animal and plant species in forest area: York University

description: <b>Meta Data</b>The experiments were carried out on October 25th, 2016 starting at 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM. The weather was 7 degrees Celsius with windy and cloudy skies. The experiment was conducted at the forest at York University at Saywell Woods with latitude 43.769, longitude -79.5079 with elevation 126.3 These coordinates were provided by the Lab Instructors. <b>Data column headers:</b>Census: Refers to sampling week Calendar date: continuous variable representing the date data was collected Campus: Categorical variable that relates to the University campus the data was recorded at. Group ID: Categorical variable refers to unique group in BIOL 2050 LabsHabitat: Refers to the two places where data was recorded, grassland or disturbed open space.Rep: The number of times the experiment was repeated. Meters: The unit that was used to measure distance on the transect and to distinguish the woody plant as a tree. <b>Experiment 1: Herbaceous Plants - Abi Rujbally </b>Methods:A transect of 50m was used to measure several variable throughout the experiment.For experiment 1, for every two metres along the transect, a 1m by 1m quadrat was randomly placed alternating from left to right. The abundance of native, exotic plants and the total number of flower heads within the quadrat were recorded. Grass was categorized as an exotic species, and surveyed over the quadrat, which was then multiplied by four to get a total estimate of colonies in the entire quadrat. This variable is quantitative and discrete. Twenty-five trials were performed at the forest area. Variables: abundance.native.plants: The abundance of native plants refer to plants that have developed or naturally occurred in Canada for many years. They were recorded by placing a quadrat every 2m on a 50m tape. Grass was categorized as an native species, and surveyed over the quadrat. The variable is discrete and continuous. Abundance.exotic.plants: The abundance of exotic plants refer to plants that are introduced from another country or originally from another location. The variable is discrete and continuous. Total.number.flowers: Refers to the total number of flower heads and average grass in the quadrat. The variable is discrete and continuous.<b>Experiment 2: Woody Plants - Fatana Rahmani </b>Methods:Data collected was continuous data. Meters were used to determine distance. Two 25 meter transects were used for this data set. The first transect was placed 25 meters from the edge of the curb where the grass started and the second transect was placed right joining the two to make it a continuous transect of 50 meters in total. Every 2 meters was walked along the transect and the total number of trees also known as abundance that was about 0.5 meters on either side of the transect was recorded. What was defined as a tree was any tree that had a height greater or equal to 1.5 meters. The canopy coverage of that tree was then estimated by both hands making a square using fingers and estimating the coverage of vegetation on that tree. The ground coverage was done the same way but instead of the vegetation on the actual tree, the vegetation of the ground around the tree was observed and recorded. Once that was done, the total number of flower heads within that 1m was observed and calculated using the naked eye. The transect was carried out and repeated (walked, did not move the transect) 25 times to make sure this data was accurate for the Forest habitat.Variables:Data Type: The data is categorical because each tree is considered as a full individual. Abundance woody plants: Recorded by counting all the trees that was observed when the 50 metres transect data was walked once. The tree was identified if it was 1.5 metres or greater in height.Canopy cover: Was the amount of vegetation on each tree, averaged up and measured in percentage. This describes the amount of leaves and vegetation that was visible on the tree when a square was made using fingers.Ground cover: Was done the same way as the canopy coverage, but on the ground and the amount of vegetation (including grass) was observed and recorded as a percentage. This was then all totalled up for the total number of trees and the mean was recorded for abundance. Total flower numbers: The average of all the flower heads found around 1 meter of the transect, around the tree, and was averaged for all the trees and recorded. <b>Experiment 3: Vertebrates & Invertebrates - Bushrat Tabassum</b>Methods:The purpose of this dataset was to measure the abundance of living species (vertebrae, invertebrate and humans) in the Saywell Woods at York University. This experiment was performed by using the point survey method. The data was collected over two 15-minute intervals. A transect was used to create a 50-meter radius from any location. One individual was then responsible to observe and record any vertebrae within the radius. The total number of individual vertebrae was calculated and labeled as the abundance of vertebrae. At the same time, the total number of humans (not a part of the lab group) was counted and recorded as the abundance of humans. On the second 15-minute interval, the total number of invertebrate was observed and labelled as the abundance of invertebrate observes. Variables:Data type: Categorical Data because the values fall within the data fall into limited groups.Individual: a single body of each species.Vertebrates species: species that have a backboneInvertebrates: species that do not have a backboneSpecies: living organisms that live in the same area and are able to interact and interbreed with each other.Abundance of humans: total number of humans which are not a part of our lab group, in a given area.<b>Experiment 4: Invertebrates - Saarah Popalzay </b>Meta-Data:The abundance of invertebrates in the Saywell Woods at York university was measured. The abundance refers to the number of insects collected along the 50 meter transect. The two methods used to measure the abundance of the invertebrates observed, was the pan trap method and the sweeping method. In the pan trap method 6 pan traps (one for each trial) was laid out 3 meters apart in alternating colors of yellow, white and blue along a 50 meter transect. Roughly 20 ml of soap water was added to the pan traps. The traps were laid out for a period of roughly 45 min from 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm. The number of species collected in each pan trap was observed and recorded. In the sweeping method a butterfly net was used in a sweeping motion to collect insects along the 50 meter transect. At reaching the end of the transect, the number of insects collected was observed and recorded. The sweeping method was repeated for a total of 10 times and at the end of each trial the number abundance of insects observed was recorded. The data collected for both methods are continuous as they are numerical and measurable sets of data in which each outcome may change for each trial. The study was conducted twice, at a forest habitat located at York university. <b>Null Hypothesis</b>The is no correlation between the proximity from the disturbed area and the abundance of vegetation.<b>Alternative Hypothesis: </b>There is an indirect correlation between the proximity from the disturbed area and the abundance of vegetation.<b>Prediction: </b>There is an indirect correlation between the abundance of vegetation and the distance from disturbed area, where the abundance of vegetation increases as the proximity between the forest and disturbed area increases.<b>Equipment used:</b>2 Transects 6 plastic bowls; two blue, two white and two yellow 1 sweep net 1 quadrat (1m by 1m)