After creating an experimental design and carrying it out, on whether different-sized bur oaks have an effect on surrounding species density and diversity. There were some practical senses in the field I may have been missing, such as the reality of how hard it is the distinguish between and identify species in such a large diverse area. I wished I had done three different distances but due to the time commitment needed, experience and knowledge of species identification, I only chose the one distance of 4ft. The woodland was also full of brush making it hard to walk through making it time-consuming to walk around, this type of study for this course may have been a lot easier to implement in an urban area park with bur oak trees. In each of the quadrats, I sampled first 5 then 6 and then 10 as I was not following the 10 rule. I had a few minor challenges during this experiment where I initially struggled with how to randomize the sampling, but in my field of work I use random walks all the time to scout fields so I felt it appropriate.
Overall this process has altered my perspective of ecological theory, especially in the sense that it is ok to go back to the drawing board when designing an ecological experiment. With so many different factors different landscapes of ecosystems have it is super important to revise plans as the theoretical side of ecology doesn’t always translate to reality. With the bur oak woodlands decreasing in acres here in Manitoba, it’s super interesting to dive deep into the ecological background and how I can better understand an ecosystem that is in my backyard.