FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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DATA:                           

Table of our Fermi Quadrat                                                                               

table of all quads

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

Part 1-In this section I will explain and define the following terms: Dominance, Importance Value, and Diversity. I will also explain why they are used to compare prairie plots. DOMINANCE_ _ Dominance is basically, in a nut shell, what plants take up the most room in an area. By looking at which plants are the most dominant we determine what majority of the prairie is weeds and what percent is native plants. IMPORTANCE_ _is the sum of dominance, frequency, and dense a plant is. In a nut shell, how dominant, frequent and dense a plant is in relation to the ecosystem, hence importance. It is important to look at importance value in comparing years, because it tells you which plants made the most impact to the environment. DIVERSITY_ _ is the amount of plants living together in the same are. The more plants in an area, the better the soil and prairie are. So as you can see, dominance, importance e value, and diversity are important qualities and factors when comparing prairies.

Part 2-For this part I will compare my quadrat to plot 17 over the years. DIVERSITY-- My quadrat had six types of plants, three native and three were weeds. The plot 17 had lots more plants, at least forty, and a majority of them were native. (This is the same as the rest of the years) At first you would wonder why there is a difference in the two items. The answer is size. A quadrat is roughly about 1|100 of a plot. This gives the plot more space for more plants. DOMINANCE—For my six plants I had dominance values of: Big Bluestem-22, Unlisted Grasslike-19, Daisy Fleabane-1, Unlisted Oval Leaf-15, and Yarrow-9. (The numbers represent the amount of space they took up.) In comparison for the plot 17 in 04, 05, and 06: the highest ranking plants and weeds are Big Bluestem and Unlisted Grasslike, but my quad has Indian Grass at first and Big Bluestem at second. IMPORTANCE VALUE—For my quad Indian Grass made the most impact at 150.25, with Big Bluestem second at 135.93. While in the total for the previous Plot 17’s for 04, 05, and 06, Big Bluestem was first for native plants at 119.07 and Wild Bergamot second at 47.42. For weeds, Unlisted Grasslike was first with 181.71 and Tall Goldenrod second with 48.33/

Part 3-I predict that in 2016, Big Bluestem will be the most dominant native plant and Unlisted Grass will be the most dominant weed. I based this off 04, 05, and 06 data.

Part 4-Throughout this lesson I have learned a lot of things. I learned, to compare, what dominance is, what importance value is, what diversity is and how to create a web page.

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.