(Blog post 6): Create a blog post describing your field data collection activities. How many replicates did you sample? Have you had any problems implementing your sampling design? Have you noticed any ancillary patterns that make you reflect on your hypothesis?
-For my field research study at Central Park, Burnaby, I’ve been focusing on observing squirrels in this area. The goal of the study is to understand how human presence influences the squirrels abundance in such areas to understand urban ecosystems, to understand how human presence impacts squirrel populations helps in creating better wildlife management plans, and others.
Sampling Design
To ensure my data is representative, I divided the park into three main zones:
- High activity (walking/bike trail, picnic area).
- Low activity (pond area).
I scheduled my observations at different times of the day (morning, and evening) over the course of two weeks.
Challenges in Implementing the Sampling Design
One of the main challenges I encountered was the unpredictability of human activity. An unexpected event, such as group gathering, and birthday parties, suddenly made the picnic area and pond activity much busier than I anticipated.
Ancillary Patterns
While my primary focus was on human presence and squirrel abundance, I started noticing additional that some of the squirrels, primarily the Douglas squirrels (brown) would often come close to me when I am standing and observing. This might suggest how they are able to adapt to the urban and high human activity presence.
I also noticed some tents in the forested area of the park and some individuals sleeping underneath the big trees especially in the morning. This might have also contributed to why the squirrels are able to adapt to human activities around them.
It doesn’t sound like you have a true low activity area if the pond is getting that many people sometimes. The squirrels will be somewhat used to humans in all areas. I thought you had an area that wasn’t used by humans, but your earlier posts on your gradient weren’t that clear. No need to re-do, but you will need to be very careful about what you can say in your discussion.