Transcript Forest Taxonomy - Columbia University

Module 2 - Plant Diversity,
Sampling Area, and Island
Biogeography
SEE-U Brazil 2001
Flora Species
• We identified and counted the frequency of
27 species found within our 4m by 4m
quadrant.
• We identified an additional 15 species
within the 8m X 8m quadrant.
• An additional 10 species were found in the
area proximate to our 8m X 8m quadrant.
Flora Density and Abundance
Number
Area versus Total Number of Species and Number of
Specimens
200
160
120
80
40
0
Species
Specimens
1
4
16
Area (m2)
64
Flora Types
• Floral species were divided into the following life
forms: trees, shrubs, vines, grasses and herbs.
• The distribution of these forms in respect to the
total number of species is:
Herbs
5%
Vines
21%
Trees
36%
Grasses
7%
Shrubs
31%
Conclusions
• We dealt with two levels of diversity:
number of life forms and number of
species.
• The number of life forms increases
quadratically as the area increases.