FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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Nelly T.
Top Data Table Graphs Comparative Analysis


GPS LOCATION: N: 41°50'27,8    W: 88°16'26,4

STUDENT RESEARCHER: Nelly T

Aerial View of Fermi Quadrat

 

This is a geographical picture of Fermi Lab:

 



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DATA:

Table of our Fermi Quadrat

 

Table of all quadrat plot 17

RAW DATA                        
Native Plants Total Plants Found Total Percentage Found # of Quadrats Found In Density Frequency Dominance Relative Density Relative Frequency Relative Dominance Importance Value  
Big Bluestem 200 423 11 16.67 0.92 35.25 40.57 27.5 48.62 116.69    
Compass Plant 12 30 1 1 0.08 2.5 2.43 2.5 3.45 8.38    
Indian Grass 126 222 8 10.5 0.67 18.5 25.56 20 25.52 71.08    
Switch Grass 34 38 2 2.83 0.17 3.17 6.9 5 4.37 16.27    
Prairie Dock 7 44 3 0.58 0.25 3.67 1.42 7.5 5.06 13.98    
Rosinweed 6 5 3 0.5 0.25 0.42 1.22 7.5 0.57 9.29    
Yellow Coneflower 5 4 2 0.42 0.17 0.33 1.01 5 0.46 6.47    
Wild Bergamot 91 80 4 7.58 0.33 6.67 18.46 10 9.2 37.65    
New England Aster 1 15 1 0.08 0.08 1.25 0.2 2.5 1.72 4.43    
Tall Boneset 8 7 3 0.67 0.25 0.58 1.62 7.5 0.81 9.93    
Foxglove Beard Tongue 1 1 1 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.2 2.5 0.12 2.82    
Indian Hemp 2 1 1 0.17 0.08 0.08 0.41 2.5 0.12 3.02    
                       
Non-Native (Weed) Plants Total Plants Found Total Percentage Found # of Quadrats Found In Density Frequency Dominance Relative Density Relative Frequency Relative Dominance Importance Value  
Daisy Fleabane 1 1 1 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.02 3.03 0.16 3.21    
Wild Carrot 86 18 3 7.17 0.25 1.5 2.02 9.09 2.85 13.96    
Sweet Clovers (tall) 168 140 5 14 0.42 11.67 3.95 15.15 22.15 41.26    
Yarrow 18 27 4 1.5 0.33 2.25 0.42 12.12 4.27 16.82    
Tall goldenrod 25 16 4 2.08 0.33 1.33 0.59 12.12 2.53 15.24    
Clovers (ground) 2 10 1 0.17 0.08 0.83 0.05 3.03 1.58 4.66    
Hairy Vetch 3 17 2 0.25 0.17 1.42 0.07 6.06 2.69 8.82    
Drummonds Aster 6 4 1 0.5 0.08 0.33 0.14 3.03 0.63 3.8    
Unlisted-Oval leaf 111 154 4 9.25 0.33 12.83 2.61 12.12 24.37 39.1    
Unlisted-Grasslike 3831 245 8 319.25 0.67 20.42 90.12 24.24 38.77 153.13    
                       
SORTED DATA BELOW                        
                       
Native Plants by Dominance Dominance   Native Plants by I.V Importance Value                
Big Bluestem 35.25   Big Bluestem 116.69                
Indian Grass 18.5   Indian Grass 71.08                
Wild Bergamot 6.67   Wild Bergamot 37.65                
Prairie Dock 3.67   Switch Grass 16.27                
Switch Grass 3.17   Prairie Dock 13.98                
Compass Plant 2.5   Tall Boneset 9.93                
New England Aster 1.25   Rosinweed 9.29                
Tall Boneset 0.58   Compass Plant 8.38                
Rosinweed 0.42   Yellow Coneflower 6.47                
Yellow Coneflower 0.33   New England Aster 4.43                
Foxglove Beard Tongue 0.08   Indian Hemp 3.02                
Indian Hemp 0.08   Foxglove Beard Tongue 2.82                
                       
                       
Non-Native (Weed) Plants by Dominance Dominance   Non-Native (Weed) Plants by I.V. Importance Value                
Unlisted-Grasslike 20.42   Unlisted-Grasslike 153.13                
Unlisted-Oval leaf 12.83   Sweet Clovers (tall) 41.26                
Sweet Clovers (tall) 11.67   Unlisted-Oval leaf 39.1                
Yarrow 2.25   Yarrow 16.82                
Wild Carrot 1.5   Tall goldenrod 15.24                
Hairy Vetch 1.42   Wild Carrot 13.96                
Tall goldenrod 1.33   Hairy Vetch 8.82                
Clovers (ground) 0.83   Clovers (ground) 4.66                
Drummonds Aster 0.33   Drummonds Aster 3.8                
Daisy Fleabane 0.08   Daisy Fleabane 3.21                
                       
                       
                       
                       
ALL SPECIES Dominance Importance Value ALL SPECIES Dominance   ALL SPECIES Importance Value        
Big Bluestem 35.25 116.69   Big Bluestem 35.25   Unlisted-Grasslike 153.13        
Compass Plant 2.5 8.38   Unlisted-Grasslike 20.42   Big Bluestem 116.69        
Indian Grass 18.5 71.08   Indian Grass 18.5   Indian Grass 71.08        
Switch Grass 3.17 16.27   Unlisted-Oval leaf 12.83   Sweet Clovers (tall) 41.26        
Prairie Dock 3.67 13.98   Sweet Clovers (tall) 11.67   Unlisted-Oval leaf 39.1        
Rosinweed 0.42 9.29   Wild Bergamot 6.67   Wild Bergamot 37.65        
Yellow Coneflower 0.33 6.47   Prairie Dock 3.67   Yarrow 16.82        
Wild Bergamot 6.67 37.65   Switch Grass 3.17   Switch Grass 16.27        
New England Aster 1.25 4.43   Compass Plant 2.5   Tall goldenrod 15.24        
Tall Boneset 0.58 9.93   Yarrow 2.25   Prairie Dock 13.98        
Foxglove Beard Tongue 0.08 2.82   Wild Carrot 1.5   Wild Carrot 13.96        
Indian Hemp 0.08 3.02   Hairy Vetch 1.42   Tall Boneset 9.93        
Daisy Fleabane 0.08 3.21   Tall goldenrod 1.33   Rosinweed 9.29        
Wild Carrot 1.5 13.96   New England Aster 1.25   Hairy Vetch 8.82        
Sweet Clovers (tall) 11.67 41.26   Clovers (ground) 0.83   Compass Plant 8.38        
Yarrow 2.25 16.82   Tall Boneset 0.58   Yellow Coneflower 6.47        
Tall goldenrod 1.33 15.24   Rosinweed 0.42   Clovers (ground) 4.66        
Clovers (ground) 0.83 4.66   Yellow Coneflower 0.33   New England Aster 4.43        
Hairy Vetch 1.42 8.82   Drummonds Aster 0.33   Drummonds Aster 3.8        
Drummonds Aster 0.33 3.8   Foxglove Beard Tongue 0.08   Daisy Fleabane 3.21        
Unlisted-Oval leaf 12.83 39.1   Indian Hemp 0.08   Indian Hemp 3.02        
Unlisted-Grasslike 20.42 153.13   Daisy Fleabane 0.08   Foxglove Beard Tongue 2.82        
                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

 

 

 

 

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

PART ONE-
   In order to compare the prairie plots and the plants in quadrats, you need to know a couple of terms. Lets start with quadrats. A quadrat is a squared off area, usually one meter by one meter, used for prairie re-search. Quadrats are what groups used to find facts about the dom-inance, importance value, density, diversity, and other related things about prairie plants. If you’re wondering what some of these things mean, you should keep on reading. Dominance is the most common plant species, in your sampled area. It takes up the most area in your quadrat and in your area. This is important because they supply the food and living space to your species. For example, in 2005 the Big Bluestem was the dominant plant, so if the Big Bluestem died out, many prairie animals would die or flee because of no food. The prairie would look empty, also, because the most common plant isn’t there. That’s diversity, the total number of different species, for all quadrats, the total number of quadrats. Diversity is important because not all species eat the same food, live in the same type of environment, and need different environ-ments. If there was only one type of plant, only one type of animal would live there, which isn’t great. Imagine if they did, and there was one plant species and 10 types of animals, would that be good? I think not because if that one plant died, there would be nothing, no animals and no plant(s). There also is density, which is the total number of plants of a certain species. Next, there is relative frequency. This means 100 x Frequency of a particular species, sum of frequency. All of these terms can be relative, which just means compared to the whole thing, not by itself.
  Finally, there is importance value. Importance value tells you how important a plant species is. You know this by adding the relative dominance, the relative density, and the relative frequency.



Part Two- Comparison
   My quadrat is different from plot 17 in many ways. To start, Plot 17 is much bigger than my tiny quadrat. So obviously, plot 17 has more plants than mine. My quadrat is only a small fraction of the whole prairie, which makes sense that plot 17 has more variety. I compared from years ’04; ’05; ’06 to plot 17 for the same years, and different things came out. My quadrat may not have all the less important plants that plot 17 has, and it could only have the more important plant species which plot 17 has.
     To continue, the dominant plant is the same. I can see that in our quadrat there is still as much of Big Bluestems as in Plot 17, and the importance value is almost the same, in percentages. If it was which has more of it, it would be plot 17, of course, because its in a larger organism. In plot 17 its 24.19 in 2006, which is like mine, but not exactly. Still, its number one both times. For weeds, Unlisted Grasslike, with 28.54 in plot 17, with Tall Goldenrod close behind. My quadrat, Unlisted Grasslike is number one too, but the dominance value is a little bigger.
Nextly, plot 17 compares to my quadrat in importance value, too. It lists Wild Bergamot as 2nd, and Big Bluestem for 1st, as usual. It was like that for the past 4 years. In mine, it was Wild Bergamot as 1st, and Big Bluestem at 2nd. If you see the information for the past 14 years, these two were competing for 1st for a long time, going back and forth like that. My quadrat compares too, its at 25.53. For the weed plants, Grasslike is first most of the time, but some others were 2nd through the almost 14 years. That pattern followed for a long time.


Part Three- Prediction
I predict that in 10 years the prairie would be similar to today, with some few changes. This is because in almost 14 years, most of the same plants were in the top ten, and I believe that they would be in the top ten for a longer time. The difference was that every year they were mixed-upped and not in order, so you couldn’t predict the next years 5-10, but the first couple were kind of predictable. We could still rank it today but we dont becasue of the change in plants. I think this may be because later they put more plants, so in the first year there would have been less plants than the fifth year. This shows that things change over time. IN 1992 there were larger decimals because there were less plants. Today, the dominant plant is only like about 25ish, and usually a close ranking. Back then, it was like 150 for the #1, then 100 for #2, which is a big hop. The ranking was bigger back then, and it changed a lot. Based on the facts I know, I think either Wild Bergalot or Big Bluestem would be the dominant plants, with Indian grass close behind. As for weed plants, I think Unlisted Grasslike would be #1, and Tall Goldenrod right behind it, which wouldn’t be a surprise since it was like that a lot.



Part Four- Reflection
This year I learned a lot about prairies and plants. I learned about a lot of vocabulary, like dominance, density, ect. I also learned why prairies are so important to our environment, and to animals. I also learned about many plants and how they affect animal life. It affects animal life because there are some aniamls that can only life in prairies, so this would be good for the animals that do. I learned how to make pie graphs better than I knew, and why I always messed up earlier. Overall, learned a lot this year about prairies, and you better know this!



 

 

 

 

 

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.