Physical fieldwork Flashcards
What is the physical geography fieldwork title?
To investigate the effect of trampling on the abundance and diversity of vegetation at Reigate Heath, Surrey
What is the human geography fieldwork title?
To investigate the pattern of housing and environmental quality in Reigate
What is the geographical theory of the physical investigation?
biodiversity of species are affected by human activities
What are the data collection methods for physical investigation?
quadrat sampling percentage cover of vegetation
field sketch
Justify one primary data collection for physical inquiry
was useful method as allowed accurate results for how veg varied across footpath/transect so could compare results to assess evidence of trampling
was achievable in time available meant i could gather large amount of data
What is the issue with using quadrats?
hard to count veg in or out of quadrat
affected results as some areas might be marked high % veg if smaller veg
to improve:
same person count veg
improve accuracy as avoid error between judgement
so data more valid
What is the secondary data for physical investigation?
Reigate Heath management plan
OS maps
Historical data
What are the risks for the physical investigation?
ticks which may carry lyme disease
mitigation: wear long trousers and check for ticks after fieldwork
uneven ground so may trip, fall, injury
mitigation: appropriate footwear, no running
What sampling method was used in the physical investigation?
Stratified approach to chose a site which was appropriate and accessible
Systematic approach for sampling across path - quadrat placed every metre across path
What is the justification for the sampling method in physical investigation?
gave representative data across whole path and reduced bias
quadrats work well to study vegetation distribution patterns
What were the problems with the sampling for physical investigation?
Only an estimation of % vegetation cover so not fully accurate
miss anomalies
bare ground and vegetation difficult to separate with plants resting horizontally so assessment of coverage difficult
What are the data presentation methods for physical investigation?
Kite diagram - shows % veg cover across path
fieldwork - shows key features of site
Proportional circle map (GIS)- shows number of species (biodiversity) across site
What are the advantages of kite diagram?
Useful for displaying changes over distance
visually clear and easy to interpret one category from another
What are the disadvantages of kite diagrams?
visually subjective as the scale influences visual effect
only works with a specific range of data
time-consuming to construct by hand
What are the advantages of proportional circles?
GIS allows data to be plotted onto a map which gives a good visual representation of vegetation cover
What are the disadvantages of proportional circles?
proportional circles can all blur together so it is difficult to read
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using mean to find average?
all data used to find answer
but…
very large or very small numbers can distort the answer
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using median to find average?
very small/big values don’t affect it
but…
takes long time to calculate for large set of data
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using mode to find average?
only average we can use when data not numerical, easy to calculate
but…
may be more than one mode, may be no mode if no data the same, may not accurately represent data
What were the anomalies in the physical investigation?
tree stumps in way, tree routes running through sample area
What was the conclusion to the physical investigation?
% veg cover increases with distance from footpath, due to human usage being more concentrated near footpath through dog walkers and members of public
What is the negative evaluation of the physical conclusion?
difficult to estimate % veg exactly within quadrat
only carried out at one time of year - users more active in summer so less veg cover
only sampled 20m transect line given time constraints, would enlarge to 30m
What is the positive evaluation of the physical conclusion?
quadrats allowed me to gain good spatial coverage over a distance
quadrats were carried out systematically (every 1m) which meant bias was avoided as well as enabling me to gain a good representation of % veg cover
What is the last evaluative point for the physical conclusion?
total of 5 transects carried out across footpath which was an adequate sample size
however, if i was to repeat again i would increase sample size to 10 quadrats and return at different seasons.
would enable me to be even more confident that % veg coverage increases with distance from footpath
