Distribution of Organisms

• Place a 1m squared quadrat onto the ground at a random point wthin the first sample area. Divide the area into a grid and use a random number generator to pick the coordinates
• Count all the organisms within the quadrat.
• repeat steps above as many times as you can.
• Work out the mean number of organisms within the first sampl area
• Repeat steps 1-4 in the second sample area
• Finally compare the two means

• Mark out a line in the area you want to study using a tape measure
• Collect data along the line
• Do this by just counting all the organisms youre interested in that touch the line
• Or collect data by using quadrats. Theses can be placed next to each other along th line or at intervasl for exapmle every 2m

Make sure results are repeatable and reproducible

To make results more reliable:

• Take a large sample size. Bigger samples are more representative of the whole population
• use random samples randomly put down ormark out your quadrat/transect If all samles are in one spot and everywhere is different the results won't be reproducible

Validity

Must be reliabe and anser original question- need to control all the vriables.

Contol variables => know whether there is a difference in distribuion is caused by an environmental factor or not

Dont control variables=> wont know if a correlation has bee found because of chance the environmental factor  or because of a different variable- study will not give valid data