My research project looks at how proximity to trees effects ground plant diversity. This hinges on the concept of competition for resources such as nutrients, water, and sunlight between the dominant trees and competitively weaker plants. As my study area is within a lawn in a town park, the low diversity of plants and factors such as maintenance and recreational use will likely yield highly specific results to this environment. Because I am studying the effects a much larger plant (trees) has on much smaller plants (low ground plants), there is a size asymmetric effect wherein the larger organism has a disproportionately bigger impact on the smaller one. My hypothesis is that proximity to trees will reduce the immediate plant diversity as it monopolizes the soil nutrients, water, and sunlight, only allowing the hardiest plant to tolerate conditions near the tree trunks.
Keywords: Resource competition, suburban ground plant distribution, size asymmetric effect