After an initial survey of the riverbank, we found over ten different varieties of plants. We also found one fungi. Finally, we observed three different sets of animal tracks on the riverbank. First, the autotrophs, we estimated there to be 1040 dandelions. We did this estimation by calculating the approximate area of land that had dandelions. We then surveyed a little area (one square foot) by counting the number of dandelions by hand, and then multiplied by number of square feet. We then estimated the number of Canadian Thistle to be 80. To do this, we broke our area into three parts and tried to count the number of thistle in each. For the wild carrot, we estimated there to be 300. We found the total area of land with Wild Carrots, and then counted a small plot of land and multiplied.
While we counted the wild carrot, we noticed several different types of trees. There were two box elder trees. We could visually count the number of trees. Next, was the honey locust. We found the number of locust by counting the each of the two trees. We found one hazelnut tree. Also, we found 16 black mustard. We tried to count the number of plants by dividing the ecosystem into three parts and counting the population sizes of the three different sections. We counted two slippery elms. We were able to identify and count the two trees by hand. We counted one chestnut tree.
There were approximately 50 garlic mustard. There was one major place with garlic mustard. Here we used the same technique as the dandelions. We counted the number of plants in a small area and multiplied it by the total number of squares in the area. We estimate there to be 50,000 Kentucky Blue Grass. To estimate the number of grass we surveyed a small area with this grass. Then we took this number and multiplied it by the total number of squares in the area. Finally, we counted 15 sedge. We were able to count this number by our eyes. We went around our site and counted the number of sedge. These were all of the flora that we encountered.
With regards to the Fungi, we only encountered three. These both were artist fungus. We were able to visually count these fungi which were based near the box elder.
Finally, were the Fauna. First, we encountered three tracks which belonged to two distinct animals. These were the deer and the raccoon. We estimated based on only one set of tracks of each, that there was only one of each. We encountered one ant that appeared to have just left a colony. Based on this we estimated the ant population to be around 100,000. During the course of our assessment, we also saw a wasp and three beetles. We estimated the isopod population to be 500. We estimated this by counting the number of isopods on a certain rock. Based on this data and the number of rocks, we multiplied to estimate the number of isopods. We found one earthworm during the course of our collecting of data. We also found twenty snails on the bottom of the rocks. We encountered one leopard frog right near the edge of the river. Based on the spiders that we saw, we estimate there to be 15 because the environment was well suited for them. We encountered several leeches in a few minutes in a one foot by one foot area. This led us to estimate there to be 100 leeches. While turning over rocks, we found a crayfish. Finally, we saw a red-winged black bird. The Flora, Fungi and Fauna populations were very diverse and very different.