Use a line transect and
appropriate quadrats to collect
quantitative and qualitative
data to show how changing
abiotic factors affect the
distribution of organisms along
the transect.
By Charlotte Bagnall
I predict that the further away that we are from the
shaded area, the more plant species we will find
because there will be more moisture in the ground
which will give the plants more nutrients. Furthermore,
there will be more sunlight to help the plant species to
grow.
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A quadrat
10m tape measure
Area where there are a verity of different plant species
Soil thermometer
Light meter
Step one – Find an area of area outside where there are lots of plant species
Step two – Line a 10m tape measure laid along the grass making a marking in the
ground by digging a little chunks of soil out from the ground. Make sure it is
large enough to see.
Step three - Place the quadrat on the ground at each meter that is marked on the
tape measure.
Step four – Now that it is placed, count the number of all the different plant species
that are there and plot down in your results table
Find the grass
area
Count the
number of
plant species
Name the
plants
correctly
Place down
the tape
measure
Collect the
soil
Measure the
sunlight
Measure the
ground
temperature
Risk assessment
Hazard
Risk
The quadrat
Could get hit
over the head
by it
Allergies
You could have
allergies to the
plant species
Wooden Logs
Could trip us on
large logs and
break
something
Safety
Precaution
How to
prevent it
Lay the quadrat
on the ground
when not in
use.
Got to matron
for an ice pack
Make sure to
take you’re your Get to matron
mediation
for medical help
outside with you
Make you’re
your just
walking not
running
Go to matron
for ice pack or if
leg is cut, a
plaster
Rating
1/10
7/10
6/10
Table
Distance
Petri
Dish (g)
Wet
mass (g)
Dry
mass (g)
Soil
temp (‘c)
Soil PH
Light
0
48.4
53.6
52.43
23
7
0.03
1
66.6
78.3
75.82
21
7
0.04
2
46.5
59.3
55.87
23
7
0.01
3
46.1
56.9
54.57
24
7
0.00
4
67.9
54.3
52.7
18
7
0.03
5
70.1
83.4
79.94
20
7
0.03
6
92.1
114.0
108.09
19
7
0.05
7
67.3
84.8
80.54
23
7
0.03
8
7.3
19.0
15.69
24
7
0.01
9
7.1
18.7
15.38
22
7
0.04
10
42.7
66.7
61.18
24
7
0.03
Distance (m)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Species
3
3
4
1
4
5
3
4
1
1
1
Plant species
A graph to show the relationship between amount of plant species and
the distance along the line transect
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
Distance
8
10
12
A graph to show the relationship between the temperature
of soil and distance along the transect
30
25
Soil tempreture
20
15
10
5
0
0
2
4
6
Distance
8
10
12
A graph to show the relationship between the soil PH and
distance along the transect
8
7
6
Soil PH
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
Distance
8
10
12
A graph to show the relationship between the amount of
sunlight and distance along the transect
0.06
0.05
amount of sunlight
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0
2
4
6
Distance
8
10
12
A graph to show the relationship between the soil mosture
and the distnce along the line transect
7
6
The soil mosture
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
Distance
8
10
12
In conclusion, my results show, that the
plant species corresponded with the soil
temperature which meant when the soil
was cooler, the more plant species there
were. I found this rather strange as it goes
against phophotosynthesis. This is when
the plants need more light. Therefore I feel
that I would need to of retest this again.
Evaluation
We were able to gather our results in this investigation because there
were a good verity of different plant species.
What didn’t work so well was as it was our first time trying to identify the
plant types, there is a risk that we may have got the plant identification
wrong.
If we were to do this experiment again, I would make try to find the plant
species from a different area of the field to see if my results would be
different. Also I would repeat this two or three more times.
We didn’t have to make any amendments/ modifications throughout the
experiment.