The Impact of Habitat on Animal and Plant Abundance and Diversity

MethodThis experiment was conducted by Arian Nouraee, Setareh Rezvani, Khondoker Sadid, and Ellora Arockiadoss on a slightly foggy day with a climate of 18° C at the disturbed open space and grasslands area at Saywell Woods at York University on Monday October 3, 2016 at approximately 3:00 PM. Survey method, quadrats: The quadrats were placed every 2 meters along a 50 meter transect placed at random in both the grassland and open disturbed areas. For each replicate, the quadrat was placed either on the left side of the transect for odd quadrat replicate numbers, or right side for even quadrat replicate number. First, the number of individuals belonging to species native to each site was counted (native abundance), followed by a count of the number of species that are exotic to the site (exotic abundance), and lastly the number of flower heads present in each quadrat. Native and exotic species were identified and differentiated with help from the experiment supervisor (TA). This was repeated for a total of 25 times replicates up to the entire length of the transect, for each of the two aforementioned sites. Survey method, transect: A 50 meter transect was obtained and placed in both the disturbed open space area and the grasslands area. At every two meters, the abundance of woody plants that was within 0.5 meters on either side of the transect was recorded. Additionally, the canopy coverage, vegetative ground coverage, and total number of flowers were also recorded at 2 m intervals on the transect. A total of 25 replicates were obtained in this data set. Survey method, point survey: Using the 50 meter transect, the abundance and species of vertebrates, as well as the number of humans that did not belong to the lab was collected within a 50 meter radius in both the open disturbed and grassland areas over a span of 15 minutes. Additionally, the abundance of invertebrates was collected within a 5 metre radius in both the open disturbed and grassland area over a span of 15 minutes. Survey method, pan trap: Using the 50 meter transect, six solo bowls were set 3 meters apart at distances of 0 meters, 3 meters, 6 meters, 9 meters, 12 meters, and 15 meters parallel to the transect. The bowls were then filled with soap water to about ¾ full and were left undisturbed for 45 minutes. At the end, the number of insects present within the bowls were accounted for. This data set was conducted at both the grasslands and the open disturbed area. Survey method, sweep net: A