CHECK BOOK FOR NOTES!

Pooter: used to catch small insects

Tullgren funnel: used to catch small, crawling invertebrate
Pitfall traps: used to catch small, crawling invertebrate
Sweep nets: used to catch insects in areas of long grass
Tree beating: used to take samples of the invertebrate living in a tree or bush
Kick sampling: used to study organisms living in a river

The following methods are used to determine the distribution and abundance of species in an ecosystem.

Systematic sampling
You would place your quadrats at regular intervals (e.g. every 5cm) over the entire area.

Belt transects (transect = measuring tape)

These are used to measure the changes in types of species as one habitat changes into another. They are systematically
placed quadrats at regular intervals (e.g. every 5cm) along the transect.

Random sampling
You would place your quadrat at random using random number tables to generate co-ordinates. This would be
unbiased – so your data will be valid.
Random sampling is good as organisms may not be evenly distributed in an area

Plan for sampling daisies on school field

1) Set
What canup measuring
affect tapes as
the number of the x and y axis.
plants:
2) Use the random number table to create random co-ordinates. Key info:
3) Place
Nutrients
your quadrat using the random co-ordinates on the x and y axis.
4) Count
Minerals
the number of daisies in the quadrat and record this. 1) Place tape measure
5) Repeat
Light this process ‘x’ times across field
2) Place quadrat next to the
 pH
tape
3) Count the number of ‘x’
in the quadrat
To make your estimate more accurate 4) Repeat every 2m.

 More quadrats
 Bigger quadrats
 Repeat in different locations
How quadrats should be used:

 Placed randomly
 Sufficient number of quadrats used
 Count daisies in each quadrat
 Use mean number of daises, area of quadrat and area of field to estimate population

Why growth may be limited:

 Sugar produced in photosynthesis

 Surface area exposed to light
 Space to grow bigger
 Mineral ions of growth