Blog Post 6
How many replicates did you sample?
- Initially, I chose to run 20 replicates but decided to add 2 more transects and have 30 replicates. Currently, I have collected 15 replicates.
Have you noticed any ancillary patterns that make you reflect on your hypothesis?
- I hypothesized a correlation between salamander abundance and specific microhabitats (e.g., leaf litter, fallen logs, and streams) in Wesburn Park. So far, the ancillary pattern I noticed is that salamanders seem to thrive in parts of the park where less interaction with humans takes place. This is consistent with the current abundance recorded along my allocated transects.
Have you had any problems implementing your sampling design?
- I had trouble implementing my sampling design because salamanders are hard to find, so I realized that I may have to disrupt their natural habitat not too much. This would avoid scaring them away.
- Due to the movement of the salamander, I also found it challenging to identify the difference in species as I didn’t have as much time to analyze the variations closely enough from other salamander I’ve previously found.
- Lately, the weather has been more variable as we approach autumn, so the rain has created a shift in humidity, and this is ideal for salamanders because they thrive in moist environments. However, due to time constraints, I would have trouble traveling to my chosen location for more field observations.
- I did worry that integrating both systemic sampling along transects would be time-consuming but given that the species I chose to observe doesn’t stay in one place, I do cover more ground with the sampling method I have chosen.