Location: Suburban/rural backyard, Saanichton, BC
Date: 26-Jun-2024 Time: 17:36
Conditions: 15◦C, partly sunny, humidity 72%, pressure 1,015hPa, wind W 17km/h
Observations: (Lawn mowed this day)
Plants in the lawn seem to be growing more abundantly near the middle of the lawn than at the edges of the patio or the house. In particular, near the house, there are patches of bare soil. The plant types along the edges show less grasses and more broad-leafed plants and/or mosses.
Date: 01-Jul-2024 Time: 09:56
Conditions: 19◦C, partly sunny, humidity 66%, pressure 1,021hPa, wind ESE 10km/h
Observations: (Lawn mowed five days prior)
Similar observations to that of 26-Jun-2024. The recovery growth after scheduled lawn maintenance, of the broad-leafed plants seems to be more than that of the grass.
Date: 05-Jul-2024 Time: 12:59
Conditions: 24◦C, sunny, humidity 47%, pressure 1,022hPa, wind NE 8km/h
Observations: (Lawn mowed two days prior; including berm)
The lawn and berm have become dry and are beginning to turn brown. The broad-leafed plants are staying greener than the grasses.
The biological attribute of study: Plant species variation within multiple areas of a lawn; edges and centre.
Hypothesis: Lawns that experience over-mowing exhibit less biodiversity.
Prediction: There will be a greater variation of different plant species in areas of the lawn that experience less mechanical disturbance from mowing compared to areas trimmed with a weed trimmer.
Response Variable: Plant species variation, continuous.
Explanatory Variable: Mowing type, categorical.
I am not sure this is going to work for a hypothesis. Why is the weed trimmer having an influence different than the mower? Are they done at different frequencies or cut to different lengths? You note the broad leaf areas are close to the edges of the lawn. Could there be other differences? Is it drier between the two areas? Is there a source of weeds or some other part of being at an ‘edge’ that might be causing this pattern other than mowing?
Is there a gradient from the edge to the middle of the lawn? If so you might want to measure continuously across that gradient.