- Discuss the collection of the initial data in module 3
I found my collection of initial date was successful on November 12th, 2022. I was able to observe Vancouver Island tree frogs in many quadrants. However, it was unsuccessful in observing any American bullfrogs after I initially observed one on (October 12, 2022). The grass locations I observed four Vancouver Island tree frogs within two quadrants (quadrant 2 and quadrant 3). The forest area I observed only one tree frog within quadrant one. Lastly, I found three frogs within quadrant three in the shrub location. For each quadrant I found that the temperature did not change statistically within the period I was at the study site (6 degrees) and raining. The study day was on a Saturday so there was less sound from construction then normal. The total time this took me was: 135 min sampling. 3 minutes for transport from one site to the next. There was a total time of 138 minutes.
“For this study, a grassy area, a shrubby area, and a forested region were selected as the study sites. The pond lies next to the grassy area, which is just one metre from the busy road. Salal (Gaulthoria shallon) covers the shrub region, which is around five metres from the road. The woodland area that was targeted for sampling is where the farthest samples were taken. For each quadrant that was sampled, I chose quadrants (plots) that were 0.1 m2. There are three sampling plots at each site (grass area, woodland area, and shrub area). I placed my samples using stratified random sampling. I chose this approach since the pond has three subareas with distinct environmental characteristics.I separated the research area (the pond) into strata (environmentally distinct parts), after which I randomly chose samples from each stratum. On November 12, 2022, at 4 pm, it was raining and the temperature was around six degrees. According to statistics, frogs are most active at night, hence this period was picked. I have choose to observe before sundown because it is difficult to try to see abundance in the dark.
Below is a section of my field journal. It contains information from my field study that assessed the impact of development and the presence of bullfrogs on a pond near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Two species (A and B) have been identified. The American bullfrog is referred to as species B, whereas the Vancouver Island tree frog is referred to as species A. There were three transects, each with three quadrants (grass area, woodland area, and shrub area). Four straws buried in the ground served as the markers for the quadrants. The pond served as the study’s sample unit, and the quadrants and transects served as subsamples. Within a 15-minute period, the presence and absence of species A and B were noted in each quadrant.
The subjects are present and a point (1) is added if they exist within the sample unit (quadrant), otherwise, they are absent (x). The number of quadrants where the subject was present (which ranged from 1-3) divided by the total number of quadrants sampled was used to calculate the frequency of occurrence for the pond’s species (9 total).”
Above is the information I have added to my Assignment 1 describing my field project.
- Did you have any difficulties in implementing your sampling strategy?
Yes, it was getting dark, which made it difficult for me to hunt for little frogs. This was due to the fact that I began monitoring the quadrants at 4 p.m. because nighttime is when tree frog activity was at its peak. Second, I was working on one section at a time, so I would complete the grass quadrants 1, 2, and 3 with plenty of daylight, but when I went to the shrub region, there was little light, and so on. In subsequent collections, I’ll pick a sample at random to observe next. A random drawing will be used to accomplish this. I typed out each quadrant for the three locations and placed them in a hat to guarantee that it was random to carry out this.
I’ve included a photo below to demonstrate how I’ll be doing this. Second, due to the topography of the locations, my quadrants differed slightly in size from one another. Due to the roots and trunks of the trees within quadrants, it was challenging to penetrate the ground with straws in the forest region. Since there was water at the base of certain grass quadrants, I experienced a similar problem, and I still need to modify the corners of the straws that make up the quadrants.
- Was your data surprising in anyway?
Yes, I was surprised to discover several frogs in a single quadrant. This is unexpected given how small the quadrants are (0.1m2). Instead of a lot of frogs in one particular quadrant, I had anticipated seeing more of them in several quadrants. The absence of other species in these quadrants was another item that surprised me. Along with the frogs, I would have expected to see additional insects or species, but there were none that could be recorded.
- Do you plan to continue to collect your data in same technique?
Yes, the quadrant method appeared to be successful in observing the tree frogs in several quadrants. Nevertheless, I’ll merely pick random quadrants to visit in order to guarantee random assignment. I think lengthening the distance between the quadrants this will extend the study’s overall runtime, but I think the results will benefit from the extra time.
