Sampling Replicates: During my fieldwork, I sampled 4 common plant species in areas known for historical high salinity, resulting from snow dumping along the creek. The plants were sampled once per week June through September. Each replicate was carefully selected to ensure a representative picture of the impacted zones.
Implementation Challenges: Implementing the sampling design posed few challenges, quadrant sampling is not challenging in this location or on this terrain.
The only challenge would be in the selection of quadrants based on residual runoff near snow dumping locations. There was no way to ensure these locations were the most accurate to sample. To ensure the most accurate results, choosing quadrants along the creek to cover the dumping zones runoff trajectory based on elevation was more subjective than preferred.
Ancillary Patterns and Hypothesis Reflection: Throughout my fieldwork, I have observed intriguing patterns that have encouraged me to critically reflect on my research hypothesis. The areas historically affected by high salinity appeared to exhibit runoff paths resulting in a reduction in the overall plant species abundance. These observations would also be the result of the area being a designated recreational site as well.