I found this project difficult to get started with and at times confusing. Data collection is overwhelming. As a health care worker I am aware of the importance of documentation but the methods utilized for sampling in ecological studies is extensive and convoluted.
After completing this assignment I am relieved to be done. Ultimately, my chosen design showed a correlation between trampling and impact on the growth of Cakile edentula but I have little confidence in my ability to carry out ecological studies that would be more complex than what I have attempted to show.
Ultimately, I feel that there are a number of confounding variables that can make measuring cause and effect extremely difficult. Further, when collecting data sometimes you do not realize that it is either useless or misleading until you analyze it. You then have to go back and start again.
Coming up with experimental ideas is difficult. Further, knowing for sure that it will effectively prove or disprove the null hypothesis is complicated when you have little background knowledge of ecological studies.
I can understand why conservation management is complex as it takes time to determine cause and effect and must cost huge amounts of money to cover the cost of carrying out studies.
I feel like a step by step study that was more strictly guided by the course would have proven to be more useful in terms of developing certain skills. For example, a practical walk through of how to set up a transect.
Essentially, at the conclusion I had an appreciation for the amount of work that must go into ecological studies although I do not know how much specific knowledge I gained in my ability to accurately study, collect data, and reflect on ecological processes.
My personal opinion is that this course needs more structure and more practical application rather than being asked to create a study from the beginning when one may have never had exposure to ecology related topics in the past.