My hypothesis is that slope position influences the abundance of insect pollinated flowers. I used a systematic sampling approach with a randomly selected transect. My sampling units were five 1m² quadrants spaced evenly along the 100m transect. I was counting the amount of insect-pollinated flowering plants (not the flowers themselves) within each sample. Reflecting on my initial sampling, there are definitely some unexpected challenges and outcomes.
There has been a fast and distinct weather change in my area, going from large snow patches to full spring blooms in under two weeks. Because of these changes, the vegetation I am looking at now has changed significantly from two weeks ago. The only flowers recorded in my sampling quadrant are Gold Beans (Thermopsis rhombifolia), which I was unable to identify on my first visit since they were not yet blooming. Though this was surprising, it has not caused any significant setbacks in my sampling and the pattern observed thus far continues to support my hypothesis despite the change in species.
I also struggled to disperse my sampling quadrants evenly along my transect using my paces. They ranged from 20m to 30m apart and ideally that would all be even. When I do more replicates, I believe this problem will mostly resolve itself, as there is a smaller margin of error possible when moving 2m compared to 20m. I will also implement the use of a smart watch as a secondary check on the distance between quadrants as I am sampling.
Overall I found that my initial data collection went quite well. My sampling unit was a great size for the amount of flowers present and I think increasing the amount of replicates will really illustrate the distribution at my study site. I plan to continue the approach with some slight modifications. Firstly I was visually plotting my transect for these samples. I think physically doing it with a string will allow me to stay more on track and have a more even dispersal of replication. I will also integrate a smart watch to help with this. I also plan to move the area of which I randomly select the transect from further away from the path, as human activity may have an impact on flower distribution that would affect my results. Other than that I plan to continue with my initial sampling methods!