My data collection for flora at Colony Farms Regional Park was done over two days that were a week apart (November 15th and 23rd). I divided the collection into three sections. The first is the mowed section of flora parallel to the gravel and sand path, the second is the unmowed flora parallel to the mowed section and the third is the flora parallel to the entrance path, where there is no mowing, but floral directly parallel to the same gravel and sand path. 15 sample photographs were taken in each section on each day, for a total of 30 samples in each section and 90 samples in total. Samples were photographs of my placed quadrant (a one-and-a-half-foot square made from PVC pipes), placement was done to be as central as possible of the mowed area, and an arm’s length into the unmowed flora (of both the unmowed flora and “control path”). This arm’s length was only done where it was safe to do so as the terrain slopped significantly at times in the unmowed sections, if the slope was too steep, the farthest safe placement was done. Samples were taken switching back and forth between each side of the path, starting from the right side of the path. A random number generator was used to generate a number between 30 and 60, this represented the number of seconds walked between samples. When the end of the trail was reached on the first day, I turned around and continued back down the path.
I was surprised at how many times I wanted to influence where the sample was placed. There were species present that I knew were there that through the random generation were not samples (i.e. cattails). It was also difficult to place the quadrant in the unmowed area due to the sloping terrain, I had to make decisions for exceptions while sampling.
While patterns observed while sampling does align with my hypothesis, there are two things I noticed while sampling that I will have to consider. Advantageous invasive species, like Himalayan Blackberry, were still present in the unmowed area along with shoots appearing in the mowed area. Identification of some plants may be difficult due to more browning of foliage than expected (sampling was done later into the fall than I intended, and there was a sudden drop in temperature after an unusual drought).