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Processing the Data:
After the students complete their prairie quadrat survey they
upload their data into the computer at Fermilab. The Fermi computer
then uses their species counts and percent coverage data to compile and
calculate the Importance Value and Dominance of each species.
Click on this link to see a detailed discussion
of these factors. Students can then use the data to compare
data from other prairies or from other years. The data from the Fermilab
site goes back to 1992 so there is now a wealth of information to
compare. This allows the students to develop there own topics to research
about the prairie. This link,
Sample Data
Entry Sheet, shows you and example of the online page that students
use to upload their data.
Student Research Projects:
Students can use the prairie data to support their particular research
project. Typical independent projects are those that compare one years
data to another or more specific ones that compare the changes in growth,
dominance, or importance value of a particular family or species of plants
over time.
Making Graphs of the Data:
Once the students have entered their data they can download
a tab-delimited file from the Fermilab computer to a spreadsheet/graph
making program like Excel and make graphs to help display and visualize
the data. This link will show you a sample of last years data.
Madison DATA 2005
. Here is the data on Dominance.
For the year 2005 data click here: Madison Data 2006
NEW!
How to Use the Data
The link below will take you to a tutorial that you and your
students can review to learn the procedures for looking at and downloading
data to use in your research.
Tutorial on Using the Fermi Data:
Now try downloading some data and making a graph or use the data for
a project.
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Data and Project Results 2005
All Collected Data Totals are
below
|
Plant |
Total Plants |
Total Percentage |
# of Quadrats |
Density |
Frequency |
Dominance |
Relative Density |
Relative Frequency |
Relative Dominance |
Importance Value |
|
Big Bluestem |
6301 |
232 |
12 |
118.89 |
0.23 |
4.38 |
49.73 |
8.39 |
12.29 |
70.41 |
|
Indian Grass |
3018 |
162 |
7 |
56.94 |
0.13 |
3.06 |
23.82 |
4.89 |
8.58 |
37.3 |
|
Wild Bergamot |
166 |
224 |
21 |
3.13 |
0.4 |
4.23 |
1.31 |
14.69 |
11.86 |
27.86 |
|
Prairie Cord Grass |
1967 |
159 |
2 |
37.11 |
0.04 |
3 |
15.53 |
1.4 |
8.42 |
25.35 |
|
Stiff Goldenrod |
189 |
201 |
11 |
3.57 |
0.21 |
3.79 |
1.49 |
7.69 |
10.65 |
19.83 |
|
Rosinweed |
264 |
150 |
13 |
4.98 |
0.25 |
2.83 |
2.08 |
9.09 |
7.95 |
19.12 |
|
Yellow Coneflower |
195 |
154 |
11 |
3.68 |
0.21 |
2.91 |
1.54 |
7.69 |
8.16 |
17.39 |
|
Compass Plant |
64 |
152 |
12 |
1.21 |
0.23 |
2.87 |
0.51 |
8.39 |
8.05 |
16.95 |
|
Tall Coreopsis |
66 |
110 |
12 |
1.25 |
0.23 |
2.08 |
0.52 |
8.39 |
5.83 |
14.74 |
|
Mountain Mint |
158 |
83 |
7 |
2.98 |
0.13 |
1.57 |
1.25 |
4.89 |
4.4 |
10.54 |
|
Foxglove Beard Tongue |
154 |
88 |
5 |
2.91 |
0.09 |
1.66 |
1.22 |
3.5 |
4.66 |
9.37 |
|
Prairie Dock |
28 |
34 |
9 |
0.53 |
0.17 |
0.64 |
0.22 |
6.29 |
1.8 |
8.32 |
|
Switch Grass |
39 |
40 |
5 |
0.74 |
0.09 |
0.76 |
0.31 |
3.5 |
2.12 |
5.92 |
|
Sawtooth Sunflower |
19 |
36 |
5 |
0.36 |
0.09 |
0.68 |
0.15 |
3.5 |
1.91 |
5.55 |
|
New England Aster |
8 |
11 |
3 |
0.15 |
0.06 |
0.21 |
0.06 |
2.1 |
0.58 |
2.74 |
|
Black-eyed Susan |
12 |
10 |
3 |
0.23 |
0.06 |
0.19 |
0.1 |
2.1 |
0.53 |
2.72 |
|
Rattlesnake Master |
6 |
16 |
1 |
0.11 |
0.02 |
0.3 |
0.05 |
0.7 |
0.85 |
1.59 |
|
Wild Quinine |
4 |
12 |
1 |
0.07 |
0.02 |
0.23 |
0.03 |
0.7 |
0.64 |
1.37 |
|
Tall Boneset |
10 |
7 |
1 |
0.19 |
0.02 |
0.13 |
0.08 |
0.7 |
0.37 |
1.15 |
|
White Wild Indigo |
1 |
6 |
1 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.11 |
0.01 |
0.7 |
0.32 |
1.02 |
|
Dense Blazing Star |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.01 |
0.7 |
0.05 |
0.76 |
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WEEDS |
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Plant |
Total Plants |
Total Percentage |
# of Quadrats |
Density |
Frequency |
Dominance |
Relative Density |
Relative Frequency |
Relative Dominance |
Importance Value |
|
Unlisted-Grasslike |
84310 |
2258 |
38 |
1590.75 |
0.72 |
42.6 |
97.24 |
21.71 |
53.22 |
172.17 |
|
Tall goldenrod |
1065 |
1077 |
38 |
20.09 |
0.72 |
20.32 |
1.23 |
21.71 |
25.38 |
48.33 |
|
Unlisted-Oval leaf |
517 |
253 |
20 |
9.75 |
0.38 |
4.77 |
0.6 |
11.43 |
5.96 |
17.99 |
|
Wild Carrot |
66 |
62 |
13 |
1.25 |
0.25 |
1.17 |
0.08 |
7.43 |
1.46 |
8.97 |
|
Clovers (ground) |
389 |
85 |
11 |
7.34 |
0.21 |
1.6 |
0.45 |
6.29 |
2 |
8.74 |
|
Yarrow |
69 |
63 |
12 |
1.3 |
0.23 |
1.19 |
0.08 |
6.86 |
1.48 |
8.42 |
|
Unlisted-Triangular Pointed Leaf |
104 |
71 |
11 |
1.96 |
0.21 |
1.34 |
0.12 |
6.29 |
1.67 |
8.08 |
|
Sweet Clovers (tall) |
34 |
139 |
8 |
0.64 |
0.15 |
2.62 |
0.04 |
4.57 |
3.28 |
7.89 |
|
Drummonds Aster |
68 |
77 |
8 |