1.5.3 Equipment List and Use
Baermann funnel / Used to extract animals from soil by immersing the soil in water that becomes increasingly warmer.Beating tray / Large white sheet placed under shaken branch to collect small insects.
Belt transect / Two parallel line transects 1 meter apart and marked off in 1 meter squares – a line of quadrats. The vegetation in each square is recorded in the same way as a quadrat.
Cryptozoic trap / A flat board or rock left lying on the ground - used to collect small animals that are usually more active at night e.g. woodlice.
Direct count / Used to get the total number of large organisms in a habitat by actually counting them e.g. trees, deer, etc.
Direct search / Looking for evidence of the presence of large animals in a habitat e.g. footprints, burrows, dens, excreta, etc.
Fish net / Used to collect small fish from pools and streams.
Grid or point quadrat / A quadrat that has been divided into a number of smaller squares – usually 100 – used to estimate percentage cover.
hygrometer / Instrument used to measure relative humidity – composed of a wet and a dry bulb thermometer.
Light meter / Measures light intensity in units called lux
(a) When showing the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis
(b) During an ecological field trip
Line transect / A string marked off at regular intervals or (e.g. 20cm, 50cm or 1m) laid out across transect line an area to be studied. The names and the heights of the plants touching the markings are recorded.
Longworth trap / See mammal trap.
Mammal trap / Used to collect small mammals e.g. mice, voles, etc.
Pitfall trap / Jam jar buried in ground and covered with raised flat stone – used to collect ground surface animals/insects e.g. spiders, centipedes, woodlice, beetles, etc.
Plankton net / Used to collect microscopic plants and animals from pools and streams.
Pooter / Used for picking up very small animals – give diagram. Suck through mouthpiece (end of which is covered with muslin) – animal is taken into jar through hose.
Profile transect / Graph showing the rise and fall of the ground along any line in a habitat.
Quadrat / For taking a random sample of plants in an area – square frame (0.5 m x 0.5 m OR 1 m x 1 m).
Rain gauge / Used to measure the amount of rainfall in mm.
Sweep net / Used to collect insects from tall grass.
Transect / A method of non-random sampling – used to describe changes in vegetation from one area to another (e.g. bright to shade, along a slope, across a seashore, etc.)
Transect line / See line transect.
Tullgren funnel / Used to extract animals from soil and leaf litter by heating the soil on one side.
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