Biology 105 Lab 4 Field Methods

Square Number	Number of Species
10	5 species
15	4 species
9	3 species
6	4 species
5	2 species
13	2 species
4	5 species
16	3 species

1.     This exercise did not require random sampling to chose your site. State how you chose your site, and explain any biases you discovered in yourself while doing so.

I thought about various areas in Prescott for this lab.  For convenience I thought of areas closest to my home.  First, I considered my own yard was, but I felt there was very little diversity within any given area.  I wanted an area that would have a few different species residing within the study section.  The area I choose was the Watson Lake area, which is a few miles from my house.  I choose this area, because I knew there were several good areas that I could capture a cross section of species.  The biases that probably existed in choosing an area, I was only considering areas that I had previous knowledge of and felt comfortable working within those areas.

2.     Describe the differences in the number of species using each method. Which one seems to “capture” the scene the best?

The two methods for sampling spatially both provided good research data.  First, the quadrat method provided was a random number generated for 8 quadrants.  Some of the quadrats had as few as 2 species in them and others had up to 5 species.  So depending on the quad, it could have either a few or various species.  I could see taking the 8 quads and getting an average.  Second, the transect method, which was a diagonal line across the whole study area.  I thought this capture the scene the best, in that it hit on all species within the study area.  I would prefer using the transect method, because it capture all the species and was less time consuming.

3.     If you discovered any dispersal patterns, describe them.

I would say the study area had a random dispersal pattern.  The species for the most part were randomly clumped into various areas of the study area.  There were places where they mostly intertwined with other species, but were in clumps and very random.

4.     Discuss what you would change for either method to determine a more accurate species count.

If I did the transect method, I would change by adding a diagonal going from bottom right to top left in addition to the original bottom left to top right.