Title: Introduction: A-mountain lies in Southern Arizona, a region known as a desert. There are factors that contribute to the growth of certain plant life in certain areas. The north and south side of the mountain is expected to have contrasting difference due to the amount of sunlight each side receives. Exposure to sunlight affects the plants growth and overall life. Because of sunlight exposure, the south side of A-mountain is expected to have more plant life versus the north side, where there is significantly less sunlight exposure.
Materials & Methods: Two groups were present, each responsible for certain sections of the mountain on both the north and south side. Each group had measuring tape, and 5 meters of string. The belt transect method was used to sample both sides of the mountains. Both north and south sides of the mountain were sampled at low and high points of elevation for the amount of plant species present.
Figure 1: Representation of belt transect
*not scaled
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These totals are used to determine the H-value in the Shannon-Weaver equation, represented in Graph 1.
Table 2: South side total (Consolidated)
Brittlebush
Bursage
Creosote
Mesquite
Pincushion
Teddy Bear Cholla
Staghorn Cholla
Chainfruit Cholla
Prickly Pear
South
49
7
194
8
2
9
10
1
2
Other
9
This table represents the total species accounted for on the south side of A-mountain. These totals are used to determine the H-value in the Shannon-Weaver equation, represented in Graph 1.
Graph 1: H-Value averages
The data in this graph is calculated by using the Shannon-Weaver formula to determine the diversity of species on A-mountain. H-values were averaged from the transect data recorded according to Table 1 and Table 2 on both sides of the mountains. The closer H is to 1, the higher the diversity in the area. The closer H is to 0, the lower the diversity in the area.