DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.4056219
title: YorkU.Woodland.Lab06Group04.Oct24.2016

description: Hypothesis: The pond habitat will contain more species of organisms than the woodland habitat, the pond habitat has resources available to more organisms. There were less trees (therefore less canopy cover) in the pond habitat, so more sunlight reaches more plants and more animals can feed on those plants. Prediction 1: The pond habitat will have a higher abundance of invertebrates than the woodland habitat. Prediction 2: The pond habitat will have a higher abundance of native plants than the woodland habitat. Observations:Observations were made between 3:00PM and 4:00PM on October 24th 2016 at York University. The research group (GroupID: 04) consisted of Meg, Jasneet, Faras and Ying. It was a partially sunny day, 10°C, and breezy with an occasional gust. The woodland habitat was located in the Saywell Woods (coordinates and elevation listed in datasheet); the transect was placed parallel to the edge of the woods about 50m in. Methods and meta-data: Invertebrate sweeps and pans: Survey conducted using pan trap and sweep nets to record abundance of invertebrates. 6 pan traps (colours: white (2), yellow (2), blue (2)) were placed 3m apart from each other right alongside the transect (50m). The pan traps were left sitting for approximately 35 mins at each grassland site before counting and recording the number of invertebrates. Sweeps (10 replicates) were performed alongside transect (50m) and at the end of each 50m sweep, number of invertebrates were counted and recorded. Replicate (continuous): number of pan traps placed and number of sweeps performed. Pan trap colour (categorical): bright (yellow), neutral (white), and dark (blue) pans placed in alternating series. Abundance.pantraps (discreet): number of species in each pan counted and recorded. Abundance.sweeps (discreet): number of species counted and recorded at the end of every 50m sweep. Abundance.invertebrates: Invertebrate abundance reference from table 2 (or Table 6 in case of Table 5). Vertebrate and invertebrate survey: Survey conducted by placing two 25m transects end to end where TA had directed. A 15-minute timer on Jasneet’s cell phone was used to time the observation period. Once the timer had begun, Meg slowly walked the length of the transect, stopping roughly every two metres to look at the ground more carefully. Vertebrates and humans were counted when seen within 50 m of the transect, invertebrates with 5 m. Counts were tallied in a lab notebook until the timer went off. Replicate (continuous): the 15 minute period. Vertebrate abundance (discreet): Number of individual vertebrates observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 minute period. Vertebrate species (discreet): Number of vertebrate species observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 minute period. Human abundance: Number of individual humans (discreet) observed within 50 m of the transect within a 15 minute period. Invertebrate abundance (discreet): Number of individual invertebrates observed within 5 m of the transect within a 15 minute period. Quadrat Survey: Survey conducted by randomly placing quadrat every 2m along the transect (50m), alternating the left and right side. Survey repeated 25 times. Replicate (continuous): referring to the number of times experiment was repeated. Abundance.native.plants (discreet): number of native species inside the quadrant area. Abundance.exotic.plants (discreet): number of exotic (not native to the land) species inside the quadrant area. Abundance.flowers (discreet): number of flower heads present inside the quadrant area. Woody Plant Survey: To measure the abundance of woody plants, canopy cover, ground cover, and total number of flowers, a 50m transect was setup. For every two meters along the transect, the measurements were taken within 0.5m of the transect. Abundance.woody.plants (numerical discreet): measurements was taken by observing either side of the transect at every two meters. Each woody plant that is greater than 1.5m in height and within 0.5m of the transect was counted. Canopy.cover (continuous): At every two meters, measurement was taken by making a rectangle with the hands and looking up to see how much of the rectangle was covered. The measurement canopy cover is an estimated percentage. Ground.cover (continuous): measurement taken at every two meters using the same method aforementioned. This measurement is also an estimated percentage. Abundance.flower (discreet): As with all the previous measurements, this was taken at every two meters as well. Flowers that are within 0.5m of the transect are counted for.