FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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 GPS LOCATION: N: 41° ' 28.4"    W: 88° 16, 255

STUDENT RESEARCHER: Joseph S

Aerial view of Fermi prairie Quadrats: Plot 17

Geographical Map of Fermi

DATA:

Table of our Fermi Quadrat

Table of all Quadrats of plot 17

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

Graphs of Dominance and important values for all quadrates 2006

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

Part One: Background information

            The prairie. While studying it you need to know a few terms. One of them is quadrats which pretty much is a fancy scientific word for a box that is one meter by one meter. Now that you know what a quadrat is you should know what dominance is. Dominance by definition is the plants which take up the most space and is the most noticeable. Take a forest for example you usually see oak trees and maple trees so they are the dominate ones. While in the prairie its usually grasses that are the dominate ones. Dominance is important because the dominate plants are the usual food providers for that ecosystem.

            Next is the importance value. By definition it means how frequent and dense the plant is in the ecosystem. By now your probably wondering how do you get the importance value ? Well I’ll tell you. You simply add the relative dominance, relative frequency, and relative density together. Then Bam! You now know how to get the importance value.

            Last is the Diversity. Diversity tells us the different types of living things live in the same area. Take my forest example from the being. Well what types of living things live in that area? There are the deer, coyotes, birds, the trees, and all of the bugs. All of these things effect their environment. This is pretty much the same for other ecosystems. As you can see while reading my website on my study of plot seventeen you need to know a few terms. 

Part Two: Comparison

            During the years we have had a very divers group of plants on plot seventeen. My small quadrat had a small total of five main plants. Compared to the top ten plants this year my group only had a few on that list. In the top ten plants  the “denominator”  thru the years 2004, 2005, and 2006 the top plant was Big Bluestem ( 24.19) . While in our quadrat the dominate plant was Indian Grass (65). However, the dominance of weeds has been growing thru the years. The unlisted grass-like was listed high in dominance values of 59.16 , 42.6 , and 28.54 . Compared to the prairie plants the weeds have been having the most dominate control.

            Besides the diversity and dominance value of my quadrat there is also the importance value. Thru the years of 2004, 2005, and 2006 the prairie plants have been the least important compared to the weeds. I can tell this by how Big Blue stem compared to 2004 of 135.31 has changed in one year to 119.03. While in those years the unlisted grass-like increased to 179.58 to 181.71. I know however that the summer of 2005 there was a drought like summer. So in away the roots because of their shallow roots soaked in more water than the prairie plants because of their shallow roots.

Part three Prediction:

            While doing the analysis I decided to make a prediction on what will happen in the next ten years. I predict that in the next ten years that the unlisted grass-like, Indian grass and big bluestem will still be in the top of the dominance chart and importance values. I also think that the unlisted grass-like will still be a major par of quadrats on plot seventeen. I also think that big blue stem will be more spread out in plot seventeen. I think this because by looking on the date ten years ago in 1996 unlisted grass-like, Indian grass, and Big Bluestem where not that spread out, but now in 2006 these plants are more spread out. While doing this study I predict that all of the top ten plants on plot seventeen will be more spread out on the plot.

Part four Reflection:

            During this study and past few weeks learning about the prairie I’ve learned something’s I never knew about. Like most of the terms. I didn’t know what a quadrat is in the first place. Before this study I would’ve think that a quadrat was some scientific term. I also learned about the many prairie plants that I didn’t know about. Including  Illinois states official prairie grass which is Big Blue stem. Which the pioneers gave the plant the nick-name of “turkey foot” because its seed clusters look like turkeys feet. As one can see while learning about the prairie and conducting the research of plot seventeen I have learned a lot.   

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© Copyright 2006, L&T Natural Images and Madison Jr. High, all rights reserved. Contact information: email at lccwik@comcast.net or tcoutts@naperville203.org

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
This project was created by the 7th grade students of team 7 UPS from Madison Jr. High, Naperville Consolidated Unit School District #203 in Naperville, Illinois with the help of their teacher Mrs. Trudi Coutts along with Technology Lab Director Mrs. Margaret Gilmore. Support for the project came from Principal Ms. Erin Anderson and the other dedicated and cooperative faculty and staff of Madison Jr. High.

 

REFERENCES:
Fermilab Education Department particularly the SIMply Prairie Project. Authors: Bill Fraccaro, Johnson School, Wheaton, IL; Larry Cwik and Pat Franzen, Madison Junior High School, Naperville, IL; and Bernie Jokiel, Gary D, Jewel Middle School, North Aurora, IL.
Created for the NTEP II Fermilab LInC program sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermilab, and funded by United States Department of Energy, Illinois State Board of Education, North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium which is operated by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), and the National Science Foundation.