ericazaja / Erica_Zaja_diss

Ecological and Environmental Sciences Honours Dissertation work by Erica Zaja, 2021. Supervised by Dr Isla Myers Smith and Team Shrub.

Honours Dissertation Repository by Erica Zaja

Ecological and Environmental Sciences with Management

Last update: 04/04/22

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Research Title: Shrubification in the Western Arctic and its Effects on the Porcupine Caribou Herd Habitat

Repository Structure

Repository includes: datasets, figures, R scripts, statistical output, Markdown structure, backup material, project organisation.

• datasets

  • PCH_Core_Range_2016: PCH core range data (Porcupine Caribou Management Board, 2016)

  • berner_data: Shrub map of North Slope of Alaska (Berner et al, 2021)

  • ITEX_data: plot-based vegetation cover data

  • phenology_data: ITEX phenology data (Prevéy et al, 2021)

  • climate_data: CHELSA temperature and precipitation data

  • anna_data: data used for model RMarkdown dissertation - NOT actual data I need

• main_scripts:

  • RQ1_mapping_EZ.R: script with full shrub raster, full PCH range and cropped shrub map code
  • RQ1_sampling_EZ.R: script with focal study area ID and buffered random sampling method
  • RQ1_models_EZ.R: script with models to answer RQ1
  • RQ2_extraction_EZ.R: script with climate extraction code
  • RQ2_models_EZ.R: script with models to answer RQ2
  • RQ3_mariana_cleaning_EZ: script adapted from Mariana Garcia Criado's ITEX dataset data wranglig script. Modified to keep only functional groups I needed.
  • RQ3_vegcover_EZ.R: script with models for cover of functional groups over time in the ANWR
  • RQ3_shrubcover_EZ.R: script with models for cover of shrubs over time in the ANWR
  • RQ4_wrangle_EZ.R: script with data wrangling for shrub phenology analysis
  • RQ4_models_EZ.R: script with shrub phenology models

• other_scripts

  • RQ1_extras_EZ: NOT USED extra code/analyses for RQ1
  • RQ2_extras_EZ: NOT USED extra code/analyses for RQ2
  • RQ3_extras_EZ: NOT USED extra code/analyses for RQ3
  • RQ3_shrubcover_separate_EZ.R: script with separate models for each shrub genus
  • RQ3_vegcover_separate_EZ.R: script with separate models for each functional group
  • RQ4_extras_EZ: NOT USED extra code/analyses for RQ4
  • other scripts including scraps and experiments

• img:

  • figures produced

• sections:

  • separate Rmd sections of dissertation report

• documents:

  • safety and ethics signed forms, title proposal, outline plan, budget form

• proposals:

  • one page outline, full thesis plan and proposed methods

Requirements

• RStudio version 1.2.5001 or greater
• packages rgdal, sp, raster, ggplot2

My Learning Objectives

• Familiarising with GIS techniques
• Learning spatial analysis
• Working with large datasets and data wrangling
• Using data to answer ecological questions

Feedback Etiquette

• Please use either an issue or a pull request.
• Please use "###" and your initial before your feedback comments.
• Please feel free to comment on anything at all! Be harsh ;)
• I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about my work.

Acknowledgements

I thank the data providers, my supervisor Dr Isla Myers Smith, and Team Shrub members for their support.