Species Count in Random sampling of Twenty One-Metre Quadrats at York University

On York Universty's Danby Woodlot, lies an untamed grassland. Many North American "weeds" make their home here, including the invasive Dog Strangling Vine (Vincetoxicum rossicum).

In order to get an idea of the variety and abundance of plant species in the area, this author, along with local wildlife expert Amanda Liczner and several other York University undergraduate students, set out to perform a survey of the grassland on Thursday, September 25th, 2014.

Using a one square metre (1m^2) quadrat, twenty random plots were surveyed. Once the quadrat was laid on the ground, each species was counted. This was done by noting which species, how many individuals of that species, and estimating the percent of the quadrat each species occupied within the quadrat.

It is to be noted that the common household names of the species were used in this study, for simplicity.