Study Organism: Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).
I chose 4 area within my chosen location. First I divided the lawn into the shaded specifically by the tree growing and unshaded(ie the middle of the grassland)
Location 1: Lower part of the gentle spot, exposed to sunlight for a longer period (UNSHADED)
Location 2: Around Trees growing in wood chip mixed soil , not exposed to sunlight (SHADED)
Location 3: Concrete pebble soil, Very exposed to sunlight
Location 4: edge of the lawn, close to the pavement
I observed that Location 4 and Location 2 had a very minimal number of dandelions growing.
Hypothesis: Soil substrate (focus on moisture content) influences the abundance of dandelions.
Predictions: Soil with high moisture absorption will support a greater abundance of dandelion.
Response variable: density and frequency of dandelion in a particular gradient (Continuous)
Explanatory variable: Moisture content of soil (continuous)
This gradient and question could work. However, you will not be able to say if the changes are due to soil moisture as you have other variables at play. To measure soil moisture you need a consistent soil type along your gradient. You have different soil types / substrate as you have soil, wood chips and rocks. Therefore, this is not a measurement of soil moisture. I think you need to focus on substrate only and I would try to choose areas with consistent sunlight. Unless you have enough shaded and unshaded areas to look at the influence of shade as well. Also, make sure you have a large enough area to have enough replicates of whatever your sample unit is.
Yes I think, I will only focus on areas with consistent sunlight. There is an open park with different vegetation across the garden, I will be adding that part as another gradient that I will study. It is closer to the Red River and Large enough for the number of replicates required.
Hello,
I think it is quite insightful that you chose 4 different locations to perform your experiment. It may be good in include how you intend to measure soil moisture. How will you handle the many confounding variables in each location such as: sunlight amount, grass vs. peddles, wood chips, etc. These factors may also effect the frequency and density of dandelions.
Good luck with your experiment:)