FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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Data Table

Graphs

Comparative Analysis

GPS LOCATION: N: 41°50'28.3" W: 88°16'24.6"

STUDENT RESEARCHER: Greta K.

Cute Bison!!!

Plot 17

Madison Prairie Unit at plot 17

DATA:

Plant Name	Total # Plants found	Total Percentage	Dominace	Importance Value
Big Bluestem	12	17	17	102.5
Indian grass	17	16	16	120.5
Wild Bergamont	6	1	1	38.9
Sweet Clovers (tall)	12	3	3	67.9
Tall Goldenrod	1	0.1	0.1	16.74
Wild Carrot	5	2	2	37.4
Yarrow	3	1	1	26.9

Table of all quadrats of 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:

Graphs of dominance and importance values for all quadrats

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

Part 1 Background information. In the year 2006, Madison went to the Fermi Lab to explore the world of prairie plants and weeds. We had plot 17. Dominance plants are the plants that are the most noticeable and take up most space in certain areas. The dominance plants are very important because they supply a lot of the food and living space for animals. They are must be really important because they supply food and space for animals. Prairie plants also are very important because they not only take up the most space above ground, but below the ground, too. The amount of a prairie plant below the ground is sometimes two or three times the size of the plants above ground. Importance value is the sum of three values: the relative dominance, the relative frequency, and the relative density of plants. So you need to know those to figure importance. Biological diversity means that many different kinds of living things live together in the same place. Having a variety of different living things in one place is important in the health in an environment. The more diversity of life in an environment, the better the environment is. Increased diversity of plants also increases the habitat for insects and other animals. Habitat is the place where particular plants and animals live.

Part 2. Comparison. For 2006, plot 17, there were all kinds of interesting plants. These are some of them in diversity. My own top three plants were Big Bluestem, Indian grass, Wild Bergamot. In 2005 the top three plants were Bluestem, Wild Bergamot, and Stiff goldenrod. 2006 and 2005 are almost similar. I wonder how the same plants wont change over an year? Let’s see 2004 top three plants. They were Bluestem, Wild Bergamot, and Indian grass. The plants and weeds are very similar. The numbers are not similar the top one for 2006 plants was 24.19, 2005 was 4.30, and 2004 was 19.93. There were weeds in the prairie, too. 2006 top three weeds were un-listed grasslike, sweet clovers, and unlisted oval leaf .2005 top three weeds were un-listed grasslike, Tall Goldenrod, Sweet Clovers. 2004 top three weeds were un-listed grasslike, Tall Goldenrod, and unlisted oval leaf. These are some of the plants and weeds for 04, 05, and 06 in dominance value. Now in importance value 2006 prairie plants top three were Big Bluestem, Wild Bergamot, and Indian grass. The 2005 top three were Big Bluestem, Indian grass, Wild Bergamot. 2004 top three were Big Bluestem, Wild Bergamot, and Indian grass. For 2006 the top three were unlisted-grasslike, Sweet clovers, Tall Goldenrod. 2005 top three was unlisted-grasslike, tall goldenrod, unlisted-oval leaf. 2004 top three was unlisted-grasslike, Sweet Clovers, Tall goldenrod. The plants were all the same except they are in different order.

Part 3 Prediction. In ten years. Hmm. Let me think. The people at the Fermi lab will keep on burning the plants and weeds with controlled fires. Don’t worry the prairie plants will grow back because they have longer roots than weeds. The prairie might get bigger. There will be more species of plants. Also in ten years there might be less weeds, but they might be harder to destroy. Here’s an example in 1992 the top three plants were Big bluestem, Yellow Coneflower, and Black-eyed Susan. Those plants changed over 14 years. 2006 my quadrat the top three were Big Bluestem, Wild Bergamot, and Indian grass. Big Bluestem is still the top plant. The top two plants change from Yellow Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan to Wild Bergamot and Indian grass. In 1992 Indian grass and Wild Bergamot were listed but in different places. In 2006 Yellow Coneflower wasn’t listed but Black-eyed Susan was. Yes also, back then there were those pesky weeds. The top three weeds were Black Raspberry, Clovers, and Common Milkweed. 2006 top three weeds are Unlisted-grasslike, Sweet Clovers, and Unlisted- oval leaf. All of the weeds changed over time but the clovers didn’t

Part 4 Reflection. In this project I learned all kinds of different prairie plants, how to take and find data, how to use tools I’ve never seen before like for wind speed, hp, etc. I would hope that reading this might inspire you to want to go out into the world and explore its plants, weeds and to see s restored prairie.

COPYRIGHT:

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.