Site – Vancouver Island University park (highest Elevation 136m), and (lowest elevation – 93 m).
For my field observation, I selected the highest elevation on Vancouver Island University’s field, which is 136 meters. The reason for choosing this location was that I noticed a higher number of Salal and Daphne growing there than at lower elevations, despite similar human activity levels. It indicates that elevation may play a crucial role in the success and survival of these species.
Daphne’s leaves were large and glossy, while Salal had a higher number of infected and dead leaves. This could be because of the toxic chemical produced by Daphne, called daphnetoxin, which is a type of steroid alkaloid. Infected Salal leaves were covered in a white powdery substance or red spots, indicating fungal or bacterial disease.
I will observe the morphological features and spread of these 2 species at 2 different elevation which is location 1 (at 93m) and location 2(at 136 m). This will enable me to know if elevation make any difference in the survival of these species or not.
This field observation highlights the importance of elevation and soil type in determining the success and survival of plant species. Daphne Laurala and Salal are two examples of plant species that exhibit different levels of invasiveness and resilience in different environments. Understanding the factors that influence the growth and spread of plant species is essential for managing and conserving our natural ecosystems.
Make sure you edit your posts for spelling and grammar as there are a number of errors in this post. Some of the grammar errors make it difficult to understand what you mean.
I am not clear what your gradient is, is it elevation? What is the elevation difference throughout the park and where you took your observations?
For a comparison of fruits and flowers between the two species you need to consider what time of year each reproduces. Be careful, as you can not make statements like Daphne has a higher resistance against harsh environments based on those observations.
Overall you are missing a clear piece and pattern and what the underlying process is and then what your hypothesis is. These are things you will need to figure out before the next small assignment. I recommend you spend some time on the hypothesis and experimental design tutorials in Module 2 before you complete your assignment. Below are some thoughts on what some patterns might be or some things you could think about measuring.
You have a few different types of observations in your post. You talk about distribution which could be measured by percent cover. You also talk about leaves, you could measure number of stems/leaves or new growth if that is easily visible. You also talk about level of disease, which would be harder to compare between two species because each might have different disease agents. I would recommend looking at a gradient like elevation and you could examine whether the prevalence of diseased salal varies if you want to look at disease.
Professor, I edited some of the parts to make it more clear about what I will be doing in this experiment. Should I continue with this strategy or do I need to make further changes.