FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2004

FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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Data Table

Graphs

Comparative Analysis

GPS LOCATION: N: 41°50'28.3" W: 88°16'25.0"

STUDENT RESEARCHER Nicole J.

DATA:

Plant name	total # of plants	total percentage	dominance	importance value
Big bluestem	13	27	27	103
Indian grass	33	22	22	177
Daisy Fleabane	10	7	7	189
Crab grass	405	15	15	66
Unlisted plants	20	17	17	120

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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
Big Bluestem	200	423	11	16.67	0.92	35.25	40.57	27.5	48.62
Compass Plant	12	30	1	1	0.08	2.5	2.43	2.5	3.45
Indian Grass	126	222	8	10.5	0.67	18.5	25.56	20	25.52
Switch Grass	34	38	2	2.83	0.17	3.17	6.9	5	4.37
Prairie Dock	7	44	3	0.58	0.25	3.67	1.42	7.5	5.06
Rosinweed	6	5	3	0.5	0.25	0.42	1.22	7.5	0.57
Yellow Coneflower	5	4	2	0.42	0.17	0.33	1.01	5	0.46
Wild Bergamot	91	80	4	7.58	0.33	6.67	18.46	10	9.2
New England Aster	1	15	1	0.08	0.08	1.25	0.2	2.5	1.72
Tall Boneset	8	7	3	0.67	0.25	0.58	1.62	7.5	0.81
Foxglove Beard Tongue	1	1	1	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.2	2.5	0.12
Indian Hemp	2	1	1	0.17	0.08	0.08	0.41	2.5	0.12

Non-Native (Weed) Plants	Total Plants Found	Total Percentage Found	# of Quadrats Found In	Density	Frequency	Dominance	Relative Density	Relative Frequency	Relative Dominance
Daisy Fleabane	1	1	1	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.02	3.03	0.16
Wild Carrot	86	18	3	7.17	0.25	1.5	2.02	9.09	2.85
Sweet Clovers (tall)	168	140	5	14	0.42	11.67	3.95	15.15	22.15
Yarrow	18	27	4	1.5	0.33	2.25	0.42	12.12	4.27
Tall goldenrod	25	16	4	2.08	0.33	1.33	0.59	12.12	2.53
Clovers (ground)	2	10	1	0.17	0.08	0.83	0.05	3.03	1.58
Hairy Vetch	3	17	2	0.25	0.17	1.42	0.07	6.06	2.69
Drummonds Aster	6	4	1	0.5	0.08	0.33	0.14	3.03	0.63
Unlisted-Oval leaf	111	154	4	9.25	0.33	12.83	2.61	12.12	24.37
Unlisted-Grass like	3831	245	8	319.25	0.67	20.42	90.12	24.24	38.77

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-Grass like	20.42		Unlisted-Grass like	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-Grass like	153.13
Compass Plant	2.5	8.38		Unlisted-Grass like	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-Grass like	20.42	153.13		Daisy Fleabane	0.08		Foxglove Beard Tongue	2.82

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GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

graphs of dominance

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

Part 1.Backround Information

Dominance, importance value, and diversity are numerical values that reflect the prairie plot plants. Let’s start with dominance. The meaning of dominance is the plants that are the most noticeable and take up the most room. For example, an apple tree and a cherry tree would be more dominant than a dandelion. These are plants they may be found in your backyard. Dominant plants can affect animals by giving them food and places to live. These dominant plants can be used up by the animals because there are so many of them. They can also affect the smaller plants by being bigger and taller. So they can grow over the smaller plant and keep it from not getting the sunlight it needs to grow. Also the dominant plants grow even more when there is a fire, and also are not being harmed. This occurs because the plants roots are sometimes two and three times the height of the plant above ground. Importance value is the sum of relative density, relative dominance, and relative frequency of a plant. Then you’d calculate the values for all the quadrats sampled. Importance value is all of the relatives added up. Diversity is how many different plants there are living in the same area. Diversity is also having a variety of living things in the area that is important to the health in the environment. The more diversity in the environment the better it is. Diversity is the number of species in all quadrats. The easiest way to see if the diversity of the student prairie is to find the diversity when it was first planted in 1992. Then the most recent year which is 2006. To see if there was an increase in the years, count the number of prairie plant species for two years.

Part 2.Comparison Prairie Plants and Weeds

Diversity: The diversity is very important to the prairie and its features because it can affect the way that things are place. It can affect the dominance and the impotence value. Diversity is the number of different species or plants in all or one quadrat. The easiest way to do that is to find all of the plants in the prairie. The Prairie plants are the Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, Wild Bergamot, Compass Plant Prairie Dock, Switch Grass, Saw Tooth Sun Flower, Rosinweed, Black Eyed Susan, Stiff Goldenrod, Prairie Cord Dock, Yellow Corn Flower, Tall Coreopsis, and last but not least Fox Glove Beard Tongue. Some weeds are the following An Unlisted Grass-Like, Sweet Clover, Unlisted Oval Leaf, Tall Goldenrod, Yarrow, Hairy Vetch, Black Raspberry, Wild Carrot, Common Milkweed, Clover, Unlisted- Ground, Unlisted Point Leaf, Drummond Aster, and last Non- Native Plant. There were a total of 28 plants in plot 17.

Dominance-Prairie Plants top ten: Dominance is the plants that are most noticeable and are big and take up the most room. For 2004 Big Bluestem has the dominance of 34.19 and in 2005 its dominance was 4.36thats a big difference. Then I realized and started thinking there could’ve been a drought. After that then remembered that the parried plants have long roots so they can find water or moisture. In 2006 the big Bluestem got back up to 24.19, and obviously this plat is very unpredictable. For Wild Bergamot it was also increasing in 2004 as a dominance of 10.43 then in 2005 it went down to a 4.23. Then the Wild Bergamot increased back up to 10.4 in 2006. For Indian Grass in 2004 its dominance was 7.3 and then decreased to 3.06 in 2005. Then it increased to 7.3 again in 2006. The Compass plant had a dominance of 4.51 in 2004 and then in 2005 it dropped to 2.87, after that decrease it increased to 4.51 again. For the Prairie dock in 2004 the dominance was 2.62 and there is no information about it in 2005 but in 2006 it increased up to 2.62. For the Switch Grass they had 2.37 as the dominance in 2004 and in 2005 there is no data. Holding on to the increase of the switch grass the pulled back up to the dominance of 2.37 in 2006. For the Saw Tooth Sunflower they were at the dominance of 1.68 in 2004(no data for 2005) when 2006 came around they were still at 1.68. For the Rosinweed having dominance of 1.14 in 2004 and in 2005 they were at 2.83 in 2005 and in 2006 they had a dominance of 1.14. I wonder why they had a higher increase than the year before and the other prairie plants that had a higher dominance than them in 2004 and got the same dominance as they had in 2004 as they did in 2006. Let’s see if this is the same for any other prairie plants. Black eyed Susan had a dominance of 1.08 in 2004 (no information for 2005) and in 2006 the dominance was 1.08 again. For the Tall coreopsis (no information for 2005) in 2005 they had 2.08. For the Fox Glove Beard Tongue (information for 2005 only) the dominance was 1.66. No other plants are like the Rosinweed where they have a lesser dominance than in 2004 and 2006 than in 2005. I think maybe because the plants can survive even better in the winter or when it gets cold. Or maybe where the plant seeds came from they were in the cold.

Dominance-Weeds top ten: Unlisted Grass like weed has a dominance of 28.54 in 2004 and in 2005 it has a dominance of 42.6, and then in 2006 there is a dominance of 28.54. The dominance for the Sweet Clover is 7.57 in 2004 and in 2005 the dominance is 4.77, and last for 2006 that dominance is 7.57. For the Unlisted-Oval leaf the dominance is 5.19 in 2004 and in (no information for 2005) 2006 it was 5.19. For the Tall Goldenrod in 2004 the dominance was 3.14, I wonder why the dominance was so much higher in 2005 as 20.23, and in 2006 3.14 again. I think it’s because maybe their roots are very deep into the ground, and they survived over the winter. For the Yarrow in 2004 the dominance was 1.86, in 2005 it was 1.34, and in 2006 it was 1.86. For the Hairy Vetch its dominance was 1.76 in 2004 and that’s all of the information for the Hairy Vetch. The Black Raspberry the dominance was at .54 in 2004 and in 2006 (no information about 2005). The Wild Carrots dominance for 2004 was .49, and in 2005 it was1.19, and for 2006 it was .49. The Common Milkweed had a .38 for the dominance and for 2005 it was 2.62, and in 2006 it was back at .38. For the Clover, one of the least dominance in 2004 and 2006 had a dominance of .32, but had the most dominance in 2006 when it increased to 2.34. The Drummond Aster had a dominance of 1.6 in 2005. And in 2005 the Unlisted-point leaf had a dominance of 1.45. In 2005 the Unlisted-ground had dominance of 1.17.

Importance Value-Prairie Plants top ten: Importance value is the sum of three values relative value, relative frequency, and relative density. Big Bluestem has the greatest importance value for all three years. For 2004 they had 135.31, for 2005 70.41, and for 2006 it was 119.07. For Wild Bergamot it had for 2004 45.38, for 2005 27.86, and last for 2006 the importance value was 47.92. For Indian Grass the importance value were 22.31 for 2004, 37.3 for 2005, and for 2006 the importance value was 30.52. For the Rosinweed the importance value were 16.77 for 2004, 18.12 for 2005 and then 13.32 for 2006. The Compass Plant had an importance value of 7.0 in 2004, in 2005 the importance value was 16.95, and for 2006 it was 13.57. For Prairie Cord Grass (there was no information on it for 2004 or 2006), but in 2005 the importance value was 25.35. The Tall Coreopsis the importance value for 2004 is 9.79, and for 2005 the importance value is 14.74(no importance value for 2006). For the Mountain Mint in 2004 it had an importance value of 8.15, for 2005 the importance value was 10.52 (no importance value for 2006). For the Stiff Goldenrod the importance value for 2004 was 7.73, and for 2005 the importance value was 19.83, and last for 2006 it ranked to an importance value as 6.62. For the Switch Grass it had an importance value that was 6.87 in 2004, (on information for the 2005 importance value, for 2006 the Switch Grass increased to 11.82. The Prairie Dock had an importance value as 6.82, (no importance value for 2005) and for 2006 it had an importance value as 9.77 that was an increase. For the Saw Tooth Sunflower (no information for 2004 or 2005) it had 7.42 as an importance value. The Yellow Coneflower (no information for 2004 or 2006) had an importance value of 17.39 in 2005. For the Fox Glove Beard Tongue (no information for 2004 or 2005) it had an importance value as 7.17.

Importance Value-Weeds top ten: For the Unlisted Grass like they were at the top of the charts for importance value each year for 2004 they had 179.58, for 2005 it was 172.17 and last for 2006 thy had 181.71. I wonder how it stayed in such a high importance value and stayed in the top ten as #1. I think it’s because they’re any grasses other than that one and it was also named #1 for dominance too. For the Tall Goldenrod it stayed in the top three in all three years. For 2004 the Tall Goldenrods importance value was 40.12, and for 2005 it was 48.33, and last for 2006 the importance value was 30.78. For the Sweet Clover it kept increasing and decreasing. The Sweet Clovers importance value was 12.67 for 2004, and for 2005 it was 7.89, and last they were #2 having an importance value of 30.6 in 2006. The Unlisted Oval-leaf had an importance value of 20.14 in 2004, 17.99 in 2005, and in 2006 18.28. The Yarrow had an importance value of 1.61 in 2004 then in 2005 8.42 and last in 2006 it had an importance value of 12.43. The Unlisted Triangular Point-leaf had an importance value of 8.12 in 2004, then in 2005 it had 8.08(no information for 2006). For the Clovers they had an importance value of 6.81 for 2004, for 2005 the importance value was 8.74 (no information on the 2006 importance value). For the Hairy Vetch there was an importance value of 6.56, and (no data for 2005) for 2006 the importance value was 9.29. The Unlisted Round-leaf had an importance value of 4.41 in 2004(no data for 2005, or 2006). For the Wild Carrot the importance value was 2.7 in 2004, and in 2005 it had 8.97, and last for 2006 it was 3.91. The Common Milkweed had an importance value of 6.36(no data for 2004 or 2006). For the Drummond Aster the importance value was (no data for 2004) 6.49 in 2005, and in 2006 the importance value for the Drummond Aster was 4.47. The Daisy Fleabane (no data for 2004 or 2005) had an importance value as 3.14 in 2006. The Black Raspberry had an importance value of (no data for 2004 or 2006) 3.01 in 2006.

Part 3. Prediction

For this I looked back to the data in 1992 when the prairie was just planted, and it’s been just about four-teen years. So here is what I think will happen in the next ten years. I know that there will still be some weeds because some weeds such as Clovers, Black Raspberry, and Unlisted-Grass like are standing strong because they can’t use anything to keep them away. Even if they did they would still fly right back. I also think that the popular native plants like Big Bluestem and Indian Grass were very well increasing, and now in 2006 they are still increasing. So I think may be Big Bluestem could be two times its importance value that it is now. The same with the Hairy Vetch it could be two times its importance value now in 2006.

Part 4: Reflection

I have learned a lot on prairies and how they work. Prairies have lots of diversity-different plants, and weeds. Then those plants have dominance and importance value. I also learned how to use tools. Such as a soil thermometer, used to determine the temperature of the soil. An anemometer used to measure wind in miles per hour (M.P.H.). How the prairie was formed by glaciers flattening every thing in its path. How burning the prairie helps it grow again. If you burn the prairie then all of the native plants have huge roots that can be up to two times the size of the plant above ground. This was leaving the weeds helpless, because they have very small roots. The prairie soil is the best soil to let a plant grow in. For a ph I got 6.8 and our teacher said 6.7 was a great ph for the soil, the soil moisture was 9.25. The prairie conditions were 68% of relative humidity, the wind speed was 14mph and the light intensity was 8. The prairie humidity was lesser than the forest one because the forest locks in moisture and moisture creates humidity. The prairie wind speed was higher probably because the wind can’t get in the forest and easily as it can get in the prairie, because it’s more open. Some popular plants are the Big Bluestem, a grass, and Prairie Dock a forbs. The big Bluestem is a grass meaning skinny stems and long narrow leaves. It can reach to an average of five and a half feet, a nick name “Turkey Foot.” The Prairie Dock is forbs- a flowering plant with broad leaves. It can reach to over eight feet. Plot #17 had twenty- eight plants including plants and weeds.

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:
Fermi lab 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 Fermi lab LInC program sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermi lab, 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.