Quadrats

Distributing Quadrats randomly

A quadrat is a square (of either metal, wood, or plastic) used in ecology to isolate a sample, usually about 1m2 or 0.25m2.The quadrat is suitable for sampling plants, slow-moving animals (such as millipedes and other insects), and some aquaticorganisms. A suitable size of a quadrat depends on the size of the organisms being sampled.
Question:
What is the distribution of the catsear (plant being investigated) over a 2x2m2study area ?
Hypothesis:
We are hoping to find at least five catsear plants.
Materials:
Qudrat, pencil, random number tables, notebook, pocket calculator.
Method:
1.Determine the limits of the area to be sampled. Spin a pencil and heading in the direction indicated by the pencil, pace out a random number of steps using the numbers given in therandom number tables. If you encounter the boundary of your sampling area, continue pacing as though you have bounce of the boundary inside your sampling area.
2. After the correctnumber of paces, place the quadrat on the ground and count the number of plants of the species that you have chosen.

Results

number of steps | species name | total number ofplants |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
4 | | Catsear | | 8 | |

Variables:
Number of plants, are being studied
Controls:
We randomly chose the study site andrepeated the number of steps so we cold have an average number of steps this being 4
Conclusion
Because of to the fact that the experiment was done randomly, the data we collectedis not completely accurate. As once again, the human impact was significant in our study site. Meaning, that we only found four catsear, when we expected to find at least five.