5.1.5

Assessing Ecosystems

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Assessing Ecosystems

Quadrats are square frames of known size and can be used to sample various features of an habitat:

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Population sizes

  • The population size of a species in a habitat can be estimated by counting the number of individuals in various quadrat samples of the habitat.
  • This can also give an indication of the distribution of a particular species and whether a species is more abundant in one habitat compared to another.
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Biodiversity

  • Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of different species and the numbers of individuals within those species in a habitat.
  • Quadrats can be used to estimate the biodiversity of a habitat.
    • The higher the number of different species in the quadrat samples, the higher the biodiversity.
    • The more even the number of individuals of the different species, the higher the biodiversity.

Jump to other topics

1The Nature & Variety of Living Organisms

2Structure & Functions in Living Organisms

3Organism Functions

3.1Respiration

3.2Gas Exchange

3.3Transport

3.4Excretion

3.5Coordination & Response

4Reproduction & Inheritance

5Ecology

6Biological Resources

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