Permaculture Living Lab Suny Oswego

Each study site is 1 km by 0.5 km in area. Three rodent trapping webs and four replicate experimental blocks of plots are randomly located at each study site to measure vegetation responses to the exclusion of small mammals. Each block of plots is 96 meters on each side. Each block of plots consists of 4 experimental study plots, each occupying 1/4 of each block. The blocks of study plots are all oriented on a site in an X/Y coordinate system, with the top to the north. Treatments within each block include one unfenced control plot (Treatment C), one plot fenced with hardware cloth and poultry wire to exclude rodents and rabbits (Treatment R). The two treatments were randomly assigned to each of the four possible plots in each block independently, and their arrangements differ from block to block. Each of the plots in a replicate block are separated by 20 meters. Each experimental measurement plot measures 36 meters by 36 meters. A grid of 36 sampling points is positioned at 5.8-meter intervals on a systematically located 6 by 6 point grid within each plot. A permanent one-meter by one-meter vegetation measurement quadrat is located at each of the 36 points. A 3-meter wide buffer area is situated between the grid of 36 points and the perimeter of each plot. The foliage canopy area and maximum height of each plant species is measured from each quadrat. All cover values are measured from the vegetation measurement frame, which is 1 meter by 1 meter, and partitioned into a grid of 100, 10 cm by 10 cm squares. Cover is measured by counting the number of

The data suggests Habitat A (close to shore) had a greater species richness in comparison to Habitat B (one meter from shore), whereby the mean scores are 5 ± 1.67 and 4.5 ±1.52 respectively (see Table 1.0). Figure 1.0 compares the distribution of data for both datasets and graphically illustrates the five number summary. Habitat A’s graph has a greater range than Habitat B, whereby 50% of the data from Habitat A obtained a species richness value from 5 to 8. Conversely, 50% of Habitat B’s dataset lies within 4 and 6.

Plants are found everywhere on earth, up high on the ridge and down low in caves and caverns. The types of plants that live in these places depends on many factors. These factors are separated into two different categories, the biotic factors and the abiotic factors. Some of the biotic factors include, predation, competition, and habitat destruction. Plants with limited competition and large amounts of resources will be in a higher abundance than plants with limited resources and higher competition rates will be confined to areas and either out competed or will be the dominant species. Certain plants adapt to these factors and thrive and others don’t do as well. Some of the abiotic factors include, sunlight, water, temperature, and wind. These

Biomes are appropriate conditions for organizing the natural world because the organisms that live in them common constellations of adaptations, particularly the climate of each of the areas and the characteristic vegetation types that develops in these divisions. It should be understood that the climate is perhaps the most important in determining classes of individuals who may live in an area and the ways they should be amended to live under different conditions of temperature and precipitation and seasonal distribution of these factors element. Every place on Earth has its own climate, influenced by both macroclimate regions as the particular microclimate. The soils are very important because they are essential to determine the types of plants that will grow into a bioclimatic zone in partical, in addition, also as substrates for animals serve. In turn, the soils are heavily influenced by regional climate, as well as the geology of the bedrock. At the same time we have to keep in mind the diversity of plants like the flora just like the diversity of the fauna as well as the adaptation of both.

Permaculture is a system of agriculture and society whose design is inspired by patterns observed in natural ecosystems. As Mollison states: "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; "[1]. The Permaculture movement began in the 1970's as an alternative farming strategy that seeks "permanent agriculture". The term evolved to permanent-culture, since the social aspects are important in the agriculture. The term permaculture goes beyond food production, it is a sustainable system that provides food, energy, shelter, as well as the social components [2][3].

Throughout this composition I intend to shed light onto the present day agricultural practices and the key natural components of this planet that support life and sustain biodiversity.

TRANSITION Another way of describing Permaculture would be having all of our needs met. Von Roenn works very closely with the low income community, giving them assistance in getting what they need. During anthropology class, the topic of Africa and its constant struggle against aids and ebola have come up numerous times. When looking at the ecosystem and the standard of living, it is clear that they do not have their needs met. A community struggling to get enough food or stay clean has little energy and time to put towards their community. As time continues, things get backed up and the living conditions worsen. What Von Roenn tells the people of the local

Vegetation is a key factor in determining the structure of an ecosystem. It determines many ecological parameters within a plant community such as microclimate, energy budged, photosynthesis, water regimes, surface runoff and soil temperature (Tappeiner and Cernusca, 1996). Vegetation of an area varies from place to place according to habitat heterogeneity of the area itself. The description and classification of the plant community in an ecosystem is known as Phytosociology (Braun-Blanquet, 1932; Odum, 1971). It’s an important characteristic in describing vegetation that offers a preliminary picture of the ecological character of the vegetation (Kershaw, 1973). Each site of study

Kotliar, N. B. (1999) and Koford, C. B. (1958) also reported in their studies that grass abundance and plant species richness

Of the multitude of labs and experiments performed in this class, each and every one of them exemplifies at least one aspect of the Nature of Science. One particular facet of the Nature of Science is that “Science is data driven (empirical), but also inferential.” This statement simply means that science consists of data that is obtained through mere observation and experimentation, but science also consists of inferences made from existing data. One example of an experiment conducted in this class in which the science was data driven was the Measure Twice, Cut Once lab. In this lab, plant diversity in a lawn ecosystem was measured using diversity indices such as species richness, percent cover, and species frequency just to name a few. In order to calculate and analyze the various diversity indices, empirical data was collected by dividing the lawn ecosystem into sixteen quadrats and physically observing the plants present in each quadrat.

While all ethics involved are important, this one might be the most critical, due to the strong reliance we have on the natural Earth cycles in permaculture. Soil repairing and building is a great technique that we spent a lot of time on during this course and one that Bane speaks highly of (Bane, 2012, p. 28). This practice caters to EarthCare by rehabbing the land we are able to improve the Earth, as well as improve our own yields and benefits.

Permaculture is a type of lifestyle that features observed in natural environment. La’akea community, where we visited on February 20th, 2016, is a permaculture community where approximately twenty people live together and grow food to sustain themselves. On the day of the field trip, a lady gave us a tour around their property first, and then, we cut grasses for 30 minutes. Their lifestyle is self-sustainable since they produce electricity from solar energy, collect water from water catchment and grow food for themselves. They also make use of animals such as goats, bunnies and piggy big. These animals eat weeds, and their wastes become fertilizers that help plants to grow. Further, the bees they keep in their beehives pollinate plants and help pro. Moreover, they build houses in the property by

The materials that were used in this microcosm project consisted of soil, a handful if pro-mix potting soil, a variety of seeds and seedlings, a small square of leather, worms, H2O and CO2.

This proposal presents a research project for a 2-month stay at the University of Rostock (Germany) as part of my doctoral studies. As a PhD student in Ecology at the University of Malaga, where I have developed my scientific background for the last three years, there are several reasons why I think I am an eligible candidate for this research grant. The topics and techniques that would be covered in the proposed research stay perfectly suit to my background, experience and research interests. As Environmental Scientist I am used to think under a holistic approach and work in multidisciplinary teams, including at International level. My postgraduate training on Advanced Biotechnology enables me to understand and keep on learning about the

The procedural steps taken in this research project are straightforward, and remain identical for each specific site. First, upon arrival map out an area of 15 meters squared using wooden stakes. Then divide the area into 15 separate 1 meter by 1 meter boxes. Then assign a number to each box and write the numbers 1 through 15 on small slips of paper. In order to insure randomization, randomly select three slips of paper and observe these areas. Second, note each individual species in the box and the number of that species. Record the data, and reference a field guide to give specific names to each plant species. In order to accurately measure the amount of