Conducting field research has been such a great learning experience. When I first began my project I had a clear vision of my question and how the experiment would go. I did not have any major changes to my design, however, I did have to tweak my distribution of sampling units, transect length, and unit sizes. A small challenge I did encounter was related to environmental variability. There was also a distinct weather change which changed the types of vegetation available to monitor, but my hypothesis could still be tested nonetheless.
This experience has given me a greater insight into how ecological theory is produced. Working directly in the field has taught me that about how nature and landscapes shape ideas. I initially thought you would find a field site to match your predictions rather than make predictions around the field site. Ecology requires more than just controlled studies; it needs a hands-on approach that recognizes the intricacies of natural systems. One of the biggest lessons I took away was the intricacies and nuances related to field work and adapting and tweaking experiments. There are so many interlinked parts of my experiment and finding a good balance between experimental design, sample sizes, location, transects, species, and so many other things is quite difficult. I also found that the more focused I got on certain topics allowed me to understand and develop my ideas better. When I decided to view my study through the lens of pollination and centred on a more niche topic, I felt far more confident in developing my paper. This assignment has taught me the significance of applying theory to real-world situations, as well as the need for flexibility in scientific inquiry.