please keep these in mind when answering the question

1. Randomization 2. Replication 3. Independence 4. Subsamples and pseudoreplication 5. Confounding factors 6. Precision and accuracy 7. Ethical considerations 8. Realism and repeatability.

Provide a detailed survey/natural experiment design that considers all relevant topics covered in this lab for this scenario. [8 marks]

You are welcome to include diagrams to help explain the study design/layout, but they are not strictly necessary.

Self-assess your responses to ensure you have adequately addressed all 8 of the topics (when relevant) reviewed in this lab

: Does field border composition predict weed density in agricultural fields? While farmers are primarily concerned with managing weeds located within their fields, weed populations occur outside of crop fields, sometimes at much higher densities. You have been hired as a summer student at the UofM to complete a survey of agricultural fields in Southern Manitoba with the goal of determining if there is a measurable relationship between the composition of field-borders, quantified as the type of vegetation present in a 25 m buffer around the field, and in-field weed density. To keep classification of field borders manageable, you establish the following classification scheme (i.e. each border will be categorized as one of the following):

1) Another annual crop field 12

2) Grass and low growing forbs (including pasture)

3) Forest

4) Riparian (body of water + associated vegetation)

5) Commercial/residential

6) Undefined (too variable to fit into any of the above categories)

In each field selected for this study, only one field border should be assessed. The dependent variable in all cases should be the mean number of weeds per m2 per field. Each mean should be calculated based on measuring the number of weeds in 10 randomly selected 1 m2 plots within each focal field (within 25m of the assessed field border). Hint 1: Think carefully about what else you might have to measure in the field borders and in the fields themselves to avoid potential confounds