ECOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

The first 200 words of this essay...

ECOLOGY ASSIGNMENT

INVESTIGATION INTO THE NUMBER OF GERANIUM ROBERTIANUM ON TWO DIFFERENT HEDGEBANKS

A student was investigating the hedgebanks surrounding two cultivated fields. Each field contained a different crop. They were situated approximately 1 mile apart. Using random quadrats the student recorded the distribution of the cranesbill Geranium robertianum on the two hedgebanks. The results are shown below.

Number of Geranium robertianum per quadrats

HEDGEBANK A 5 3 4 6 2 3 1 4 3 2 6

HEDGEBANK B 8 5 3 4 9 7 6 5 8 4

Q1. Was there a significant difference between the distribution of Geranium robertianum on the two hedgebanks? (Give reasons for the test chosen and the conclusion reached)

Q2. Suggest possible reasons for any differences in vegetation between the two hedgebanks.

I have decided to choose the Mann-Whitney U-Test to determine if there is a significant difference between the distribution of the Geranium robertianum, on the two hedgebanks. I have chosen this test because the two sets of data I have been provided with are not normally distributed, that is to say most of the larger scores of samples were in one set, hedgebank B.