Prairie Study
Does the presence of bird perches affect the species diversity of the prairie?
Prairie Study Background
The prairie study started with a question- does the presence of bird perches affect species diversity of the prairie? Students wanted to know what would happen if they put bird perches in the prairie, thinking that it would attract birds to fertilize the ground and grow more plants. The students decided to perform a series of tests to record the species diversity in plots without disturbance, with disturbance, and with a new bird perch. Students set up square meter by meter plots in the prairie and divided them into quarters. Random plots were chosen to be the two types of controls or perch plots. Since then, different Environmental Science classes have studied the plots once per year. Results so far are inconclusive, but it is designed to be a long-term study.