However, studying plots that were spread apart had some important benefits. The distance between the plots meant that they included a greater variety of plant species. If all the plots had been adjacent to each other, there might have been a mass of ginger covering one entire plot, but none in any of the others. The plots may have only had 'ie'ie in them, as opposed to including pa'iniu, hapu'u pulu, and other native flora. With all of the plots scattered, the data collected addressed a bigger range of variables, including what happens if the tree cover overhead is thicker, or if one plot receives more rain than another.

Another key variable in this study was in the height measurements of the native plants. When I measured them the first time, I did not mark the place on the plant's stem from which I had started my measurements, which may account for the "shrinking" of some of the 'ie'ie and a few other plants. The meter stick may have been placed a few centimeters above or below the initial starting point, thus altering the measurement's "dependability."

The weather was another unstable variable that may have affected my project. The first measurements were done during a drought, which means the plants may have been malnourished or slow-growing for that period in time. The rain that came later could have washed away soil at the plants' bases, making it appear that the plants grew when actually their roots were just exposed. This goes back again to how the stems should have been marked when they were first measured.