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7 views3 pages

ESS PSOW -4

Uploaded by

Anita Kapadia
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Grade 11 ESS HL /SL Investigating the Ecosystems –Using Quadrant 13/12/24

PSOW -3

Using quadrats in sampling


Quadrats are square frames of wire usually 0.25 m2. They may contain further
wires to mark off smaller areas inside, such as 5 cm × 5 cm or 10 cm × 10 cm
squares.
These are placed on the ground to look at the plants or slow-moving animals
within them. When looking at plants in a quadrat, the following sampling can be
used:

1. Number of an individual species - the total number of individuals of one


species (eg daisies) is recorded.
2. Species richness - the number of different plant or animal species is
recorded but not the number of individuals within a species.
3. Percentage cover - the percentage of the quadrat area that is covered by
one species (eg grass). This is easier to estimate if a quadrat has wires
making smaller sections.
4. Percentage cover rather than number of individuals is used when estimating
plant frequencies if it is difficult to identify individual plants, such as grasses
or moss.

Random sampling
Random sampling using a quadrat involves the placing of quadrats at random
coordinates. Regardless of whether you are investigating the number of individual
species, the diversity of species or the percentage cover in different areas, you
would use random sampling.

Random sampling using quadrats


Sampling of the area you are studying must be random.

It must show no bias – for instance, choosing to sample where there are lots of
plants.

 When you have chosen a sampling area, first divide it up into a grid, for
instance, having 10 × 10 divisions.
 Use a suitable method – you could draw numbers out of a hat – to generate
a pair of random coordinates on your grid.
 Place the first quadrat on your grid using these coordinates.
 Count the number of different species within this quadrat (the species
richness).
 Repeat steps 1-4 so that you have a total of at least 10 counts.
Procedure:
A frame quadrat is a simple frame of a known area. This can be used to make
estimates of population density (number of individuals per unit area) or to estimate
percentage cover (the proportion of the ground area covered by a species).A point
quadrat usually consists of a frame with holes through which long needles are
lowered onto the ground below. Percentage cover can be estimated from the
proportion of the points that touch the species of concern. Traditional point
quadrats are not always available in schools, so in this practical the intersections
of a grid within a frame quadrat will be used in the same way. Each intersection of
the grid (where two wires cross) will be a ‘point’.

In this investigation you will consider the population of a single species within a
grassland area such as a school field or parkland.

1.Decide which species you will use in your population estimates. It must be
possible to distinguish the individual plants and they should be relatively abundant.

2.Make sure that you can identify your chosen species confidently.

3.Draw a suitable table to record your results.

4.Choose a 10 m by 10 m area of grassland to study.

5.Mark this out using two tape measures as shown in fig A, with the tapes laid at
right angles from A to B and from B to C. 4. Use random numbers to determine the
coordinates for a quadrat sample within the grid.

6.Place one corner of the 0.25 m2 quadrat at this point.


Estimate the percentage cover of your chosen species within the quadrat.

7.If your quadrat is divided up into 25 smaller squares, each small square will
represent 4%. Use this to help you make your estimate.

8 Without moving the quadrat, use it again as a point quadrat, recording the
number of grid intersections under which your chosen plant is found.

9.If you are using a 0.25 m2 quadrat divided into 25 smaller squares there will be
16 intersecting points inside the quadrat.

10.Next measure plant density. Count the number of individuals of your chosen
species that lie within the 0.25 m2 quadrat and record your result.

11.Try to trace each plant down to the base of the stem to make sure you are
counting a single individual.
12. To account for the ‘edge effect’, do not count plants that cross the right-hand
and lower sides of the quadrat but do count all plants that cross the top and left-
hand sides of the quadrat. 8. Replace the 0.25 m2 quadrat with the 1 m2 quadrat.
13.Repeat step 7 for the 1 m2 quadrat. 9. Repeat steps 4–8 at least 10 times and
preferably more, so that you have at least 10 repeats of percentage cover
estimates with both frame and point quadrat methods and at least 10 density
measurements for both the 0.25 m2 quadrat and the 1 m2 quadrant.

Calculate the percentage cover for each point quadrat using the formula:

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