By: Navdeep Badhan, Imran Ahmed, Kim Harvy Abdon, Aslbek Odilkhujaev, Diaa Zedeia
Our project aims to reveal whether there exists a relationship between the acreage and species diversity of select NYC parks (Central Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Prospect Park, Randall’s Island Park, and Van Cortlandt Park). Data from INaturalist projects associated with those parks were utilized to calculate the Shannon-Wiener diversity index of each park. The NYC Department of Parks and Recreation provides the acreage of the parks mentioned above. By applying a correlation test between the calculated Shannon-Wiener diversity indices and the provided acreage values, a weak, negative correlation between the two data was yielded.
These results cannot be accepted at face value because correlation does not imply causation. Additionally, delving into our methodology revealed challenges stemming from the fact that INaturalist data was used to calculate species diversity. Our project describes what specific biases/limitations were imposed on the experiment using INaturalist data and offers insight into different methodologies that may address those biases. We also recommend looking into other factors that affect species diversity in the parks other than acreage, such as human activity in the park.
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