While collecting my data I did not experience any issues or unforeseen challenges. What surprised me the most is that I did not see a more pronounced / obvious distribution of sword ferns in the darker / less sunny areas whereas I did notice a much greater influence on the distribution of sword ferns in wetter / moister areas. For example, Transect #4 was almost entirely within a moist area and I did not observe a single sword fern along this transect.
I plan to add three additional transects along the top of the ravine since I want to ensure that moisture is not skewing or influencing my results and the outcome of my study.