11th April 12, 2022, between 2:35-3:00 pm
Weather was cloudy with blowing windy at 27km/hr at 3°C-4°C
The water level reduced quite a bit and I identified that the soil was too porous in the area that was waterlogged. The icy water in the Duck pond was melted and noticed the frequency of the geese to be increased.
- The organism that I am planning to identify is the “abundance growth of lichen on dormant trees”.
- Environmental gradient: What trees are showing the growth of lichens and why is it so disrupted?
Location 1: Elm trees along the riverside
Location 2: Trees surrounding the duck pond.
Location 3: Trees in the fitness trails.
- The growth of lichen was dispersed all around the park on different sizes of elm tress. I found them even on small twigs broken from the trees on the ground. The one thing I noticed was that I struggled to find lichens in the fitness trails around one side of the area that was being shaded by the other side, making sunlight a limiting factor for their growth.
Hypothesis: How is the dispersion of lichens is associated with sunlight?
Prediction: Growth of lichens increases with abundance in sunlight.
- Potential response variable: Scarcity of abundance of lichens on tress
Potential explanatory variable: Sunlight
Categorial response variable: Lichens present or not
Continuous explanatory variable: Amount of sunlight
Hi!
Your proposed study is really interesting! Your prediction is clear, easy to follow and falsifiable. Great work! Your categorical response variable seems nice and easy to measure within the field. I’m curious how you plan to measure sunlight, I think this will be more difficult. Perhaps by percent canopy cover?
I think it is great your hypothesis and prediction are based on observed patterns! It helps give a reason for why you’re making the predication. Additionally, it will be really helpful when writing your final paper! However, I think you should consider potential confounding factors. Could other nutrients be a limiting factor? You mention two sites close to water have a high abundance of lichens (along the riverside and near the duck pond). Perhaps proximity to water is a confounding factor?
Best of luck with your project! It sounds really interesting!