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This lesson covers the practical methods used to investigate ecosystems, including quadrats, transects, kick sampling, mark-release-recapture, and statistical analysis, as required by the Edexcel A-Level Biology specification (9BI0), Topic 10 -- Ecosystems.
It is usually impossible to count every organism in an ecosystem. Instead, ecologists take samples and use the data to estimate population size, distribution, and abundance. Good sampling must be:
A quadrat is a square frame (commonly 0.5 m x 0.5 m or 1 m x 1 m) placed on the ground to define a sample area. Organisms within the quadrat are counted or their cover is estimated.
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