This lab was set up in order to demonstrate the diversity and at the same time scarcity of species of plants in a long island forest as an example for a very global issue. The main principles involved were the community structure and dynamics of ecology. To observe this in the open we sectioned off three different areas, a grassland, forest edge and mid forest. While examining these areas our main goal was to notice which plants species were dominant and which were only to be found on the outskirts of a sectioned off area.
It was fascinating to see the increased diversity of plants and species on the forest edge in contrast to the mid forest. The forest edge was dense with plants struggling to survive while the plants dominant in the mid forest have taken over and pushed back their competitors in turn creating a less dense environment. Plant life is affected by things such as abiotic environmental factors (Miyazaki 27-28), specialist consumers, which are herbivores and pathogens co-existing with a plant in its native area, and interactions with neighboring plants (Calloway 436-437). Today biodiversity is declining at an exceptionally rapid rate, mainly due to habitat destruction, overexploitation, and competition from non-native invasive species (Miyazaki 23).
[...] The forest edge was dense with plants struggling to survive while the plants dominant in the mid forest have taken over and pushed back their competitors in turn creating a less dense environment. Plant life is affected by things such as abiotic environmental factors (Miyazaki 27-28), specialist consumers, which are herbivores and pathogens co-existing with a plant in its native area, and interactions with neighboring plants (Calloway 436-437). Today biodiversity is declining at an exceptionally rapid rate, mainly due to habitat destruction, overexploitation, and competition from non-native invasive species (Miyazaki 23). [...]
[...] The mid forest and the forest edge had far greater amounts of species of plants since human interference is very limited and the complexity of the environment is allowed to thrive. Of the two areas the Forest edge had a larger concentration of species; however the group's original hypothesis that there would be more species by the forest edge was not able to be confirmed. We had originally proposed this idea because it was thought that species being “pushed of the forest would retreat to the outskirts, replaced by dominant species inside the forest. [...]
[...] Another reason for some species to appear only on the forest edge could be Environmental factors. The abundance of highly positioned species in the mid-forest area may block the lower positioned species from getting the sunlight they need to survive. The species in the lower layer may be able to receive more sunlight on the edge of the forest, where they are not completely surrounded. This may be a reason soil-litter and herb layer species exist in the grassland. If a large tree was planted in the center of that 5X5 meter of land, some of those species may not survive. [...]
[...] Secondly we sectioned off a 5X10 meter area of the forest edge with brightly colored tape meters along the edge of the forest and 5 meters deep into the forest. We then recorded all the species within that area. We noted the volume of each species on a scale from being the absence of a species, to being a dominant species. We drew a diagram indicating the direction in which the different species were located. The height level was also recorded for each species (Soil-litter layer, herb layer, shrub layer, understory layer or Canopy). [...]
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