FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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GPS LOCATION: N:_41° 50' 28.5''_________    W:_88° 16' 24.6''__________

STUDENT RESEARCHER: ____KatherineM_______________

Aerial View of Fermi Prairie Quadrats: Plot 17

This is a Geographical map of Fermilab;

FERMI LAB!!!

DATA:

Table of all quadrats of plot 17;

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

Graphs of Dominance and importance values for all quadrats 2006;

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

PART ONE

            Dominance, Importance Value and Diversity are the three main topics used to compare prairie plots. You probably want to know what these things are!

            Let’s start with dominance! Dominance tells us what kind of plant or weed is in a certain area. Dominant plants are the most “noticeable” and they take up the most room. So if you had a prairie quadrat with lots and lots of a certain plant, that plant would be the dominant plant! Dominant plants are important because they supply much of the food and living space for animals. So if we didn’t have plants, animals wouldn’t be able to find homes or food!

            Next let’s talk about Importance Value. The Importance Value is the sum of three values. The relative dominance, the relative frequency and the relative density. We calculate these values for a species when we combine the data for all the quadrats sampled. So Importance Value is really telling us how dominant, how frequent and how dense a plant is in the ecosystem.

            Last but not least, let’s talk about Diversity. Diversity really means the difference between something. For example, people are diverse. They are all different in some way! One might be artistic while the other is athletic! We need to know the difference of the plants because then we can give the plant or weed a name and we can tell all the plants or weeds apart!

PART TWO

            Did you know that Fermilab was once all farmland? It was until plants started growing and scientists took the land for lab areas. The scientists there have lots of comparing to do in one days work. By comparing I mean comparing plants to one another. They also compare the changes in the amount of dominance and importance value from one year to another. For example, in 2004 Big Bluestems Dominance amount was about 19.93. But in 2005 the dominance amount for Big Bluestem was about 4.38. So you can see that the big bluestem was more “noticeable” in 2004 than 2005. They also compare what plants or weeds are on the top ten importance value list and the dominance list. For example, Wild Bergamot is on the Dominance list for 2004, 2005, and 2006. That means that Wild Bergamot keeps growing and growing which keeps it on top of the list. Now, for weeds it is different. In 2004, the weed called Unlisted Grasslike had a dominance of 22.88 which put it on top of the list. But in 2005, it had a dominance of 20.32 which made it go second on the list. I think that the amount of Unlisted Grasslike went down because in 2005 we had a very hot summer with not a lot of rain. This year, we have had a lot of rain so the amount of unlisted Grasslike shot up again.

PART THREE

            I predict that in the next ten years Big Bluestem will take over the other kinds of plants and become the only kind of plant there is. I think this because when I look at my Dominance Chart for 2004, 2005, and 2006 I notice that Big Bluestem keeps getting larger. For instance, in 2004 its dominance was 19.93, in 2005 its dominance was 4.38 and in 2006 its dominance was 24.19. That is why I think Big Bluestem will keep getting larger and larger and take over all the rest of the plants.

PART FOUR

            In conclusion, I learned that prairie plants and weeds are very important to us. Animals and other organisms need plants to live. I also learned how to find the dominance, importance value and diversity of a plant. In addition to that I learned what they mean. The earth was once 100% bare earth and it was all plants. Now we have very few prairies, but it is places like Fermilab that help reproduce them.

COPYRIGHT:

© 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.