Sampling Organisms

• What method can be used to find the number of daisies on a school field?

  • choose a starting point on the school field in an area where the grass is often cut

  - use random numbers to generate a set of coordinates to place your first quadrat

  • count the number of different plant species within this quadrat (the species richness)
  • return to your starting position and repeat steps two and three a further 14 times using different random numbers
  • repeat steps one to four for a part of the school field which the grass is infrequently cut
  • compare your results by calculating a mean for each location
• What formula can be used to calculate total population?

  Total Population= Total area/sample area x Number of species counted