Biodiversity Investigation
Investigating Biodiversity
Introduction:
Species rich meadows are the most species rich plant communities on earth. Of the 2200 species of flowering plants found in Sweden, one fifth is considered to be threatened. The most common cause of the species lost is that species’ habitat has been affected by humans. However, in northern Europe, there is another pattern since farmers have used the land for more than a thousand years in a way that contributed to a greater number of species present.
In this investigation, I am going to take the role of an ecologist to survey two different areas of two different grasslands (pasture and park grassland) and estimate the biodiversity. I will be doing this investigation in a group of four students and we will be using taking samples in a quadrat and then measure the soil temperature, soil pH and moisture in those quadrats.
Hypothesis:
In this investigation, I expect the species richness of the pastures to be richer than the species richness of the park grassland because the pasture is used for grazing and grazed by domesticated livestock so the soil and plants will be able to absorb nutrients from the animals’ feaces and be more fertilized. As agriculture became more intensive, grasslands were often fertilized with artificial fertilizers which lead to strongly competitive grasses taking over and out competing smaller plants. The grazing animals that tramples down the grass cover in the pasture help create good condition for seeds from smaller, uncompetitive plants. The park grasslands aren’t as rich in term of the biodiversity because it doesn’t get fertilized as much as the pasture do since the purpose of the park grassland is for creating space for human to have fun on.
Variables:
In this investigation, my independent variable is going to be the type of grassland where I take my samples in this case it will be either pasture or park grassland. The dependent variables are the species richness, the soil pH, soil
Introduction:
Species rich meadows are the most species rich plant communities on earth. Of the 2200 species of flowering plants found in Sweden, one fifth is considered to be threatened. The most common cause of the species lost is that species’ habitat has been affected by humans. However, in northern Europe, there is another pattern since farmers have used the land for more than a thousand years in a way that contributed to a greater number of species present.
In this investigation, I am going to take the role of an ecologist to survey two different areas of two different grasslands (pasture and park grassland) and estimate the biodiversity. I will be doing this investigation in a group of four students and we will be using taking samples in a quadrat and then measure the soil temperature, soil pH and moisture in those quadrats.
Hypothesis:
In this investigation, I expect the species richness of the pastures to be richer than the species richness of the park grassland because the pasture is used for grazing and grazed by domesticated livestock so the soil and plants will be able to absorb nutrients from the animals’ feaces and be more fertilized. As agriculture became more intensive, grasslands were often fertilized with artificial fertilizers which lead to strongly competitive grasses taking over and out competing smaller plants. The grazing animals that tramples down the grass cover in the pasture help create good condition for seeds from smaller, uncompetitive plants. The park grasslands aren’t as rich in term of the biodiversity because it doesn’t get fertilized as much as the pasture do since the purpose of the park grassland is for creating space for human to have fun on.
Variables:
In this investigation, my independent variable is going to be the type of grassland where I take my samples in this case it will be either pasture or park grassland. The dependent variables are the species richness, the soil pH, soil