Answer to Question #158820 in Ecology for Brandon Corona

Question

Can anyone give me ideas on any ecological projects that I can do as an undergrad? I have to come up with a question and a hypothesis. It can't be done on anything that has a spine. I had came up with a few proposals but they were shot down. I just have to capture some data but coming up with a proposal is super hard.

This was my initial proposal but it was shot down:

 Question: Do plant species Asclepias curassavica (common name tropical milkweed) have shade tolerance? What is its effect on this species' vigor and overall plant height?

Hypothesis: Plant species Asclepias curassavica (common name tropical milkweed) will have greater vigor and plant height when exposed to more sunlight as opposed to those in shaded areas.

MY PROF HAS REPLIED TO ME WITH THIS FEEDBACK:

I think you cannot dismiss the other factors and have a valid study. Try to develop something that is not subjective (the vigor scale you propose) or multivariant (age of plant, soil differences, watering differences, etc).

Go into the world and collect data rather than setting up a project and seeing what happens. What do I mean by this? Comparing the abundance of a particular species in a nature preserve vs in a city park. You go out and collect the data about that species, but you didn’t do anything to it. You took measurements and made observations. 

Answer 1

Ecological project

One of the major challenges facing urban areas is moderating the average temperatures in the cities. High temperatures in urban areas have resulted in increased cost of heating and cooling buildings.

Question: Can trees moderate the average temperatures in cities? To what extent can trees moderate the temperature?

Hypothesis: Having small-leafed species in cities such as Robinia pseudoacacia and Pinus sylvestris can help moderate city temperature and save on the amount of energy currently consumed during the heating and cooling of buildings. Temperature rise is a crucial challenge whose long term solution would be planting more trees in urban areas.