Abundance and Cover of Plant and Grass Vegetation in a Grassland at York University

The study explores the diversity of plant
species in a grassland.

Hypothesis: In a grassland, the distribution of
specific plant species and grasses are random. 

Predictions: The number of plants species in across quadrats should vary. The number of individual plants should also vary across quadrats. We
should also see that the areas occupied by grass and vegetation should vary
across quadrats.

Methods:
-  25
quadrats were placed randomly at a grassland near Keele and Steeles at York
University, Keele Campus from 3:00 to 4:30 on sunny and warm conditions. Each
quadrat has an area of 1m2 and hence, the total sum of the areas of
all the quadrats is 25m2.
- In
each quadrat, the number of individual plants was counted as well as the number
of unique plant species. The total cover of vegetation and grass was also
approximated for each quadrat.
- The
data was uploaded to figshare.
Meta-data:

Abundance of plants: defined as the number of
individual plants counted per quadrat. The data is continuous and quantitative.

Number of species: defined as the number of
unique species seen per quadrat. The data is continuous and quantitative.

Total cover of plants: proportion of the
area of the quadrat that is covered by plants. The data is continuous and quantitative.

Total cover of grass: proportion of the area of
the quadrat that is covered by grass. The data is continuous and quantitative.