Prairie Plant Transects

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 Plant Transects 

AP Environmental Science students conducted a plant survey of the Project Prairie prairie using the transect technique. This is the second transect done on the site, following similar techniques used in the 2009 study. The Project Prairie site is a fragment of prairie located on the FWCD campus.

Students set up four 40 meter transects using string, to evaluate the presence of several native prairie grasses along with the presence of invasive trees and poison ivy. Measurement sites were set at five meter intervals along each transect.  The number of each species present was counted within a 1 meter distance perpendicular to the transect string. The GPS coordinates for each measurement site along the transect were recorded.  These coordinate were input into ArcMap to enable production of a GIS map of the prairie. 

During the last three years, students have been actively restoring the prairie.  They have removed invasive species, reseeded local native prairie plants and surveyed the wildlife found in the area.