Graph of Correlation of Abundance:
This shows that as the distance from the path increases the abundance of creeping moss also increases. My graph shows that there are 2 anomalous results. Ignoring these 2 anomalous results the correlation is very strong and positive. The reason for one of the anomalous results is that I had started from the start of the footpath where there is a lower amount of trampling than the middle of it. The reason for the other anomalous result is that as I was moving away from 1 footpath I was beginning to move into another footpath which had a lower abundance because of the soil depth of the footpath.
This table is the table for the average results using the method of calculating the mean for the average result. Which is the actual results added together divided by the number of values.
This table is the table for the average results using the method of calculating the mean for the average result. Which is the actual results added together divided by the number of values.
This table is the table for the average results using the method of calculating the mean for the average result. Which is the actual results added together divided by the number of values.
Graphs
Graph of Correlation of Temperature: This graph shows a quiet strong positive correlation between the distance of the footpath and the temperature of the soil. This correlation is due to the fact that there was a limitation. It was the snow. There were different areas of the footpath that had snow on it and areas that didn’t. The area without trampling had no snow on it; this influenced the soils temperature to be a lot higher than that of the footpaths soil temperature. This effect was only a short term effect so this could have had nothing to do with the abundance of creeping moss, since they grow over a much longer period of time than a few days.
Graph of Correlation of Soil Depth: This graph shows a very strong positive correlation between the soil depth and the distance along the footpath. This is because the trampling on the footpath causes the soil to be compressed. There is a possible chance that 200 million people have trampled on it over the past 200 years due to the fact that Box Hill has 1 million visitors a year. If each one of the 200 million people compressed the soil by 0.000001 mm then each part of the soil on the footpath can be reduced by a possible 200 mm. there are also anomalous results here. This is because of the limitations of the experiment. There was snow on the ground making it hard to find an appropriate place to dig the soil pin into. There is also a possible chance that there were rocks in the soil where I had put the soil pin into.
Graph of Correlation of Soil pH: This graph shows a negative correlation. The soil pH is very close to neutral so this couldn’t have had an effect on the abundance of creeping moss. It looks as if the correlation would have had an effect but the range of data is so small that it hasn’t. The range of data is only approximately 0.325 of a pH level which is an insignificant amount. The optimum soil pH is a neutral level of pH, at a pH level of 7. Some of my results in the footpath are above 7.5 which is the level where the soil is too acidic for plant growth, so this could be another reason why there is a low abundance of creeping moss on the footpath.
“If your soil has a pH value under 6.5, it is too acidic and you have to add ground limestone to bring it back into balance. If it is over 7.5, it is alkaline and you have to add soil sulfur.” (http://www.articlecity.com/articles)
