Formatting Guidelines Color –Same color for all font or alternate between headings and text but use no more than 2 colors Font –No smaller than 20 (except citations) –Shadow & bold, but be sure text is legible Images –Should not be pixelated; should be web cited if not your own (see example)

Background –Images or color acceptable if text is legible –Use Light background : Dark Text Slide # –Varies but must adhere to time limit – So Practice!!! Text (bullet points) –Should be result statements; concise and meaningful. No vague generalities. E.g., treefall number (generality), Moisture influences treefall number (concise and meaningful) Image location in this sample ppt is optional and purely for example only Formatting Guidelines

Soil drainage impacts frequency but not mode of treefall in a temperate deciduous forest Carol K. Augspurger Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois image

Background: Important role of treefalls in forest regeneration image treefall

Background: Types of treefalls: uproot vs. snap off image

Graph from primary literature to show preliminary data helping to generate a question Background: Soil conditions vs. type of treefall –Loose –Saturated –Interaction with wind Augspurger et al. 2007, J. Exp. Bot.

Question: Does variation in soil drainage affect the frequency and mode of treefall?

Hypothesis/Prediction: If soil drainage affects treefall frequency and mode of death, then number of treefalls and ratio of uprooted:snapped-off trees will be greater in poorly drained than well- drained soils. Assumption: Wind conditions equivalent in both areas.

Methods Study site Soil drainage: defined and maps Study site image

Methods Experimental design IV: Soil drainage (poor or well drained) DVs: number of treefalls per quadrat number of uprooted vs. snap off treefalls # replicates: 15 (50x50m quadrats) Sampling unit: one tree > 20 cm DBH Design image (quadrat placement?)

Methods Statistics t-test (frequency); chi-sq (ratio treefall type) Example graph

Treefall number depends on moisture t-test P<0.01 Number of treefalls Results

Mode of death varies among soil types Chi-sq 1: ratio snap:uproot P>0.05 Chi-sq 2: uproot>snap P<0.05 Red: snap Blue: uproot Total Number of Treefalls Results

Discussion: Hypothesis 1: supported –Why? –Literature in agreement or not – discuss or provide evidence (images/graphs)

Discussion: Hypothesis 2: not supported –Why? –Literature in agreement or not – discuss or provide evidence (images/graphs)

Minor Limitations Pseudoreplication Investigator bias Variable surrogates –Light intensity was not measured but assumed to vary depending on angle of sun

Future directions What can we look into next? What will we find based upon your data?

Conclusions: (summarize the results and draw an encompassing conclusion in the context of your introduction e.g., climate change, restoration ecology, spatial dynamics of fragmentation) Soil drainage impacts treefall frequency, but not mode of treefall. Areas with contrasting soil should have different: forest dynamics regeneration potential species composition

Acknowledgments TA: Molly McNicoll Funding: Mom and Dad Institutional Support: Steve Buck, Manager Natural Areas/ University of Illinois