Grassland Quadrat Sampling and Physico-chemical Biological factors of Lake

Grassland
Grassland- terrestrial biome consisting mainly of grasses and few trees and shrubs. Quadrat- a square or rectangular plot that encloses the sample Species Area curve- a method used to determine the size of the quadrat Species richness- refers to the abundance of the species Species evenness- equal distribution of the species in a given area.

Species-Area Curve
graph of relationship between number of species (richness) and area sampled Use to determine the size of the the quadrat Important in determining the diversity of the area. applications determine adequate community area estimate sampling adequacy (no. of Community) Compare the biodiversity (different species in an ecosystem

Species Area Curve

64 m2

16 m2
2 4 m2 8 m

32 m2

2 m2 1 m2

Species-Area Curve
Number of Species (Richness)
40

30

20

10

0 0 10 20 30 40
2

50

60

70

Quadrat Area (m

Quadrat Parameters
Frequency-the frequency of quadrats occupied by a given species
number of quadrats in which species occurs Frequency (F) = ---------------------------------------------------------- X 100 Total number of quadrats
frequency of a species Rel. Frequency (RF)= -------------------------------------------- X 100 total frequency of all species

Quadrat Parameters
Abundance- compares the number of plants of that species with the total number of plants of all species in the study area:
number of plants of a certain species Abundance (A) = ------------------------------------------------------- X 100 Total number of plants

Quadrat Parameters
Density-closely related to abundance but more useful in estimating the importance of a species is the density. It is defined as the number of plants of a certain species per unit area:
number of plants of a certain species Density (D) = --------------------------------------------------------------- X 100 Total area sampled density of a species Relative density (RD)= -------------------------------------------- x 100 total density for all species

Quadrat Parameters
Cover-the proportion of the total area occupied by the species. -also commonly called dominance:
Total area covered by a species Cover (C) = --------------------------------------------------------- X 100 Total area sampled

Relative cover, like relative frequency and relative density, gives a better indication of the importance of a species than does the absolute value:
cover for a species Relative Cover (RC) = -------------------------------------------- X 100 Total cover for all species

 Since it is considered as a grassland the most abundant is the grass e.g. carabao grass, lemon grass Least abundant is the weeds e.g. Mimosa Makahiya Importance Value- is used to determine the most abundant species by adding the relative values.

Definition of Terms

Lake Physico-chemical Factors

Lake- a lentic freshwater ecosystem Limnetic- refers to the water present in the lake Benthic- refers to the bottom or floor of the aquatic ecosystem Riparian- the edge of the lake; the boundary of the aquatic and terrestrial ecoystem

Limnetic Zone
Parts of the limnetic zone 1. Epilimnion- upper layer of water where light can penetrate. Also known as photic zone 2. hypolimnion- lower layer of water where light cannot penetrate. Also known as aphotic zone 3. metalimnion- the boundary between the photic and aphotic zone. Also known as the compensation depth.

Benthic Zone
Parts of the benthic zone 1. Littoral zone- portion covered with water and light reaches the substratum. 2. riparian zone- similar with supralittoral 3. benthos- refers to the organisms present in the benthic zone. 4. profundal zone- lower portion of the aphotic zone rich in organic materials.

Light Penetration
Secchi Disc- the instrument use in measuring the light penetration.
Average light Penetration = disappearance + reappearance 2 Percent Light Penetration = Average Light Penetration x 100 Total depth

Epilimnion- photosynthesis will take place; dissolved oxygen (DO) is abundant.

Hypolimnion- respiration will take place; rich in CO2 Metalimnion- equal amount of DO and CO2; also known as thermocline

Thermal Stratification
The varying temperature of the strata of lake water.

Thermal inversion-the overturn of water due to changing temperature of the water layer.

 Warm water will rise while cold water sinks. What is the importance of thermal stratification and overturn? Food distribution due to overturn

Total Suspended Solid

Small particles present in the water like silt, plankton, etc. Procedure: pre-weighed filter paper filtering the suspended solids then air dried and weigh the filter paper again. TSS= Weight of Air dried filter paper- preweight of filter paper. Importance: affects the light penetration, temperature and photosynthesis in the epilimnion

Salinity, TDS and Conductivity

Instrument used salinometer or SCT meter Salinity- amount of salts present in the water. TDS- total dissolved solids- the elements present in the water e.g. Ca, Magnesium etc. Conductivity- determines the ions present in the water. Importance- the elements, compounds and ions are the source of minerals needed by plants and animals in the water.

Dissolved Oxygen
Instrument : DO meter The amount of oxygen traps by the molecules of water Produced by the atmospheric diffusion and photosynthesis of plants. Higher in epilimnion than hypolimnion. Importance: used by organisms in respiration; resulted to fish kill if there is deficiency of DO.

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Hardness

Instrument used: Hach test strips Nitrogen- building structures of organisms e.g. component of protein. Derived from decomposing organic materials, fixed by nitrogen fixing bacteria and fertilizers Phosphorus- used in synthesis of ATP. Derived from decomposing organic materials, leaching of rocks and fertilizers. Hardness-amount of Ca, Mg and other metallic elements in the water. Originated from decomposing organic materials, leaching of rocks

pH
Amount of hydronium ions in the water. Low pH means acidic which is caused by nonmetallic oxide dissolved in water e.g. NO2, NO3, SO2, SO3 ,CO2 Acidic lake reduced the DO and characteristic of eutrophic lake.

Aquatic Organisms
Plankton-floating organisms 1. Phytoplankton- floating microscopic plants 2. Zooplankton-poor swimming animals
Plankton Total count= Actual Count x Enumeration Factor

Enumeration Factor=

1000 mm3____

(50 mm) (1 mm) (1mm) (3) Nekton- swimming organisms e.g fish Benthos- organism present in the floor of the lake

Phytoplankton

Zooplankton

Achomosphaera neptuni

Achomosphaera ramulifera

Adnatosphaeridium multispinosum

Alisocysta margarita

Hydrophytes
- large aquatic plants classified as: 1. submergent- plants attached to the substrate and remained under the water. 2. emergent plants- plants attached to the substrate but emerged above the water. 3. Floating plants- plants living on the surface of the water 4. periphyton- plants attached on the surface of the rocks 5. riparian plants- plants living on the edge of the lake.