*+*Welcome to Melanie's Page*+*

Back to Honors Biology Student List of Pages

*+*GPS LOCATION: N: 72    W: 135*+*

*+*+*+STUDENT RESEARCHER: __Melanie G.__*+*+*+

 Back to Links

DATA:  

  Dominance and Importance Value Chart (Our Chart)

Importance Values Prairie Plants 2005

Importance Value for All Plants Sampled in Plot #17 2006 

Back to Links

  Analysis:

Back to Links 

Part One: Background Information

Dominance, importance, value, and diversity are extremely important in comparing prairie plots. Dominance is defined as “Total percent cover of a species/total area sampled.” Basically, it shows which prairie plant holds the most power. You can use the data to tell which plants are becoming dominant. They are the plants that are most noticeable and take up the most room. Importance value is also very important. “(IV = relative dominance + relative density + relative frequency)” is Importance value.

Diversity is defined as “the total number of different species for all quadrants/total # of quadrants”. The prairie is a very diverse field of nature. There are over ten different types of plants.

Part Two: Comparison

            Upon completing my Single Quadrate, I discovered that my groups’ totals were extremely similar but also had a few differences with the teams’ totals for the years 2005 and 2006. My Quadrant was more diverse than the majority of the other groups. We had several more different kinds of plants than the others.

            My dominating plant is the same as the dominating plant with the other Quadrants. In every chart I studied, the Big Blue Stem plant is the dominant. I was not surprised by this. The Big Blue Stem, also called Adropogon gerardii may have been the most widespread and abundant grass throughout the true prairie.

            I also had most of the same plants as the other Quadrants. Some plants I did not have, such as Wild Bergamot, Mountain Mint, Prairie Dock, and a few others. Those were some of the other dominating plants that I did not have.

Part Three: Prediction

            As part of a conclusion to the analysis, I will make an educated prediction about the native prairie plant populations in Plot 17. I think in the next 10 years, the importance value will be similar to the data of 2005 and the weed plants will be similar to the year of 2006. The diversity of the prairie will be similar to the 2006’s.

Part Four: Comparison

I have learned a great deal about prairies. A prairie is a region of flat, gently sloping, or hilly land covered chiefly by tall grasses and not many trees. Pioneers who first saw the flat prairies of the American Middle West called them a 'sea of grass.' I am grateful for the wonderful opportunity to visit the prairie in Batavia , IL . I have learned about all the different prairie grasses, and I have gotten the chance to visit one. I am very fortunate to visit the prairie, because a lot of students are not able to because of a lack of location or transportation. Visiting the prairie was a great experience and I hope to have the opportunity to visit again.

Back to Links

Pictures:

 COPYRIGHT:Back to Links 

© 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 Honors Biology ll  students of Seton Academy in South Holland, Illinois with the help of their teacher Mr. Cwik. Support for the project came from Principal Ms. Ingia Jackson and the other dedicated and cooperative faculty and staff of Seton Academy.

 

REFERENCES:
Fermilab Education Department particularly the SIMply Prairie Project. Authors: Bill Fraccaro, formerly of Johnson School, Wheaton, IL; Lawrence Cwik, Seton Academy and Pat Franzen, formerly Madison Jr. High Naperville, IL; and Bernie Jokiel, formerly from 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.
 

Fermiwebpage_06