My study transect followed a footpath through the park forest. The segment of the path in the study area is roughly 200m so I decided that 20 stations at approximately 10m intervals would provide a good sample. After recording weather conditions and time/date, I followed the following procedure at each interval.
- Note interval station in Excel.
- Record relative light level in Lux (3x)
- Measure horizontal distance from footpath to significant change in elevation (not part of the study but I thought it might be interesting to collect this data)
- Measure max height of vegetation 1m from path (again not intended to be part of the study)
- Photograph the vegetation in the area perpendicular to the footpath.
Additionally, I took ambient light readings in urban areas, open areas and under full forest canopy to establish data boundaries.
The sampling strategy was efficient and didn’t cause any problems. I was able to take the light reading in quick succession so that the ambient light would be fairly consistent and not changed due to time-of-day variation. The photographic data collection was not as time-sensitive because of the colour and luminosity calibration which I included in each image.
Although plant height was extraneous to this study, I determined that there was some correlation between light levels and plant height but I have not completed the image analysis to comment on the central thesis of this study.
