Introduction
In ecology, a species-area curve is a relationship between the area of a habitat, or of
part of a habitat, and the number of species found within that area. Larger areas tend to contain larger numbers of species, and empirically, the relative numbers seem to follow systematic mathematical relationships. The species-area relationship is usually constructed for a single type of organism, such as all vascular plants or all species of a specific trophic level within a particular site. It is rarely, if ever, constructed for all types of organisms if simply because of the prodigious data requirements. It is related to, but not identical with, the species discovery curve.
This practical has been done in an oil palm plantation in Kawang Reserve’s Forest, Sabah during the mid-semester breaks held from 9th April 2014 until 11th April 2014.
2.0
Objective
i.
3.0
To determine species area curve for sampling of population by quadrate method.
Equipment
i.
Measuring tape.
ii.
Compass.
iii.
Marking ribbon.
4.0
Methodology
i.
A quadrate plot sized 1 metre x 1 metre is formed using the prepared equipment.
ii. Surveying and recording is done for tree’s species or plant in the plot. iii. The size of plot is doubled to 2 metre x 2 metre and the tree’s species surveying is being done. iv. Step i – iii are repeated until the sized of 16 metre x 16 metre.
v. All observation has been recorded and graph has been formed.
1
5.0
Result
All data of surveying has been recorded and shown below :
Area
1m²
4 m²
16 m²
64 m²
256 m²
Species Frequency
9
6
10
18
23
New Species Frequency
9
4
5
10
5
Cumulative Species Frequency
9
13
18
28
33
Tree Frequency
51
51
202
202
391
Cumulative Tree Frequency
51
102
304
506
897
Table 5.0 (a) : All observation and surveying data
Species Area Curve
New Species
References: Will R. Turner and Tjorve (2005) Scale-dependence in species-area relationships – Ecography ii. Foster and Ashton, P. S. (1996). Species–area and species–individual relationships for tropical trees: A comparison of three 50-ha plots research reports iii. Rosenzweig, M. (1995) Species Diversity in Space and Time. Cambridge University Press. iv. Gotelli, N. J. (1998) A Primer of Ecology, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA.