Hi, my name is Britney Young. For my project I have chosen the location in Summerland, BC, Canada called Summer Ornamental Gardens. The size of these gardens is 15 acres but I will be observing only a small portion of that area. The photos I have included are the areas where I will be observing. This land is on a mountain and it consists of a couple of small hills, lots of grass, trees, flowers, shrubs, and various rock-filled gardens. It is filled with grasslands and various ornamental gardens. This is a community garden where the community members help to maintain the gardens. I just went to visit this location today March 2, 2023. The weather was sunny and clear skies today with a temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. The bird population was vividly present but no other wildlife was observed.
The three questions I want to focus on and observe furthermore are:
- Has the increased human presence decreased the amount of wildlife?
- Has the increased human presence increased the amount of human/wildlife interaction or has it minimized it dramatically?
- Was this park created to increase wildlife and ecosystem sustainability or for general human pleasure?
I forgot to grab pictures day one but here are the exact locations that I am studying.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ktLoqhiuo/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bze620JhPfk/
A good start to your project and this area sounds like it a good study site. A few more details on the landscape and vegetation would be helpful. For example, you mention grasslands and so is there native areas of vegetation intermixed with the gardens and how much of each type of area? Or, it is on a mountain so does the topography of the area vary much and what is it like? I’m also not clear why you have already decided you will only be focusing on a small area when you are at the beginning of scoping out a study?
Your questions are a good start, as you move through the next couple of modules you will start to think more about which questions could be answered and how to go about narrowing in on a subject.