I had no problems summarizing my data. However, I was confused regarding whether I should make a graph after doing my statistical (ANOVA) analysis or prior to that. I ended up creating a graph to represent the total of all plant species within each zone and a graph for the total number of each individual plant species within each zone prior to performing any statistical analysis. When organizing my data, the only issue I encountered was finding the best way to represent the data in a clearly readable way. Because many species were included the color preferences in the legend seem like they would not be the most legible. To mitigate this, I used the same colors with a distinct pattern to minimize confusion.
The outcome of my data was not surprising and follows the initial pattern I initially expected. I did notice that some plants were more prevalent than others while others exhibited a more random organization, and some plants of the same species were also of varying sizes. This gave me the idea for further areas of exploration such as the role of other physical factors such as nutrient availability in soil, temperature etc and other potential biological factors that are causing the observed pattern such as interspecific competition, predation and even parasitism.
Doing the ANOVA is great though it is not strictly required for this course, only you know you should do one. However, the analysis shouldn’t change how you graph your data or what tables you make. Focus on how to summarize your raw data in an easily interpretable format. Be sure to look at the examples in Moodle.