Determination Population Density, Estimate and Spatial Dispersion of Shrubs in SLSUCAS Quadrangle, Lucban, Quezon

Conde, R. C., Obnamia, A. M., Ordonez, K. N. College of Arts and Sciences Southern Luzon State University
Lucban, Quezon 4328

Abstract. Population density, estimate and spatial dispersion patterns are some of the basic principle of statistical
inference and methods of ecology. The study conducted were concerned with the abundancy of shrubs in SLSUCAS quadrangle and to know what kind of spatial dispersion pattern were being expressed in the sample site.
Immobile organism were sampled using quadrat method. On the other hand, analyzation of data were done through
statistical interference and descriptive statistics with some manual operations of mathematical formulas. Results
showed that there is a high abundancy of shrubs in SLSU-CAS quadrangle during the month of January and
February. Whilst it can also be concluded that at 95% level of significance, the dispersion of shrub in SLSU-CAS
quadrangle is not randomly distributed, supporting the idea that the spatial pattern of distribution of shrubs in SLSUCAS quadrangle are clumped or aggregate. The study done was conducted at SLSU-CAS Quadrangle on February
04, 2016 with an initial temperature of 26.08C.

Introduction
One of the most fundamental
problems faced by community and
population ecologist is that measuring
population size and distributions (Krebs,
1998). These are important for comparing
differences between communities and
species. They are necessary for the impact
assessments and restoration ecology. They
are also used to set harvest limits on
commercial and game species.
In most cases it is either difficult or
simply not possible to census all the
individuals in the target area. The only way
around this problem is to estimate
population size using some form of
sampling technique. There are numerous
types of sampling techniques. Some are
designed for specific types of organism. As
well there are numerous ways of arriving at

estimates from each sampling technique. All

of these procedures have advantages and
disadvantages. In general, the accuracy of an
estimate depends on the number of sample
taken, the method of collecting the samples,
and the proportion of the total population
sampled. One of the most common method
used to sample stationary organisms is the
quadrat method. A quadrat is a frame that is
used to mark out a specific area on the
ground. Quadrats may be square, rectangular
or even circle. The area used in the quadrat
is dependent on the type of ecological
community being sampled.
Sampling is viewed by statistical
ecologist as a science in its own right. In
most cases, the object is to collect as many
randomly selected samples as possible. The
accuracy of an estimate increases with the
number of sample taken. This is because the
number of individuals found in any given

sample will vary the number found in other

samples. By collecting numerous samples,
the effect of variations can be averaged out.
Whereas the purpose of random sampling is
to avoid biasing the data. Data become
biased when individuals of the same species
are sampled more or less frequently.
Population size refers to the number
of individuals present in the current
population while density refers to the
number of individuals in a given area. For
ecologist, density is a measure for which it is
standardized per unit area, and therefore, can
be correlated with environmental factors
used to compare different populations
All biological population have
certain properties, or parameters, of
ecologist to ecologist (Baxter, J.) One of the
most common method used in these
population parameters is the population
spatial dispersion pattern which has three
possible types of spatial dispersion. In a
random dispersion, the location of an
individual are independent of each other. In
a uniform dispersion, the occurrence of an
individual reduces the likelihood of finding
another individual nearby whereas in a
clumped dispersion, the occurrence of one
individual increases the likelihood of finding
another individual nearby. It is considered
that the shrubs in SLSU-CAS quadrangle are
abundant in size and density with a clumped
or aggregate spatial pattern of dispersion of
shrubs in SLSU-CAS quadrangle.

Methodology
Things used in the study conducted were
meter
stick,
statistical
software
(SPSS/PASW), and some simple statistical
formulas to solve the problem. First, a land
or an area was selected, since the focus the
study conducted were all about shrubs, the
technique used in sampling the area was
quadrat method. Based on the total size of

the land selected, the researchers tried to

compute the cumulative species total vs the
number of quadrats. In getting this idea, the
researchers are able to know how many
quadrats will be used in the conducted study.
A total of 9 quadrats were used to sample the
selected land equaling to 0.6% of the total
land area in the sampling site. To avoid
biases the researchers divided the group into
three groups having three random quadrats
per group with a total of nine quadrats.
Then, second, the data gathered in the
sampling were analyzed using descriptive
statistics and statistical software, showing
quantitative data. Thus, some of the
mathematical or statistical formulas used in
the study are: population estimate for the
size and density; variance to mean ratio for
the dispersion pattern; and t-statistics for
testing the hypothesis discerning whether the
dispersion patterns are randomly distributed
or not.
The study site was conducted at
SLSU-CAS Quadrangle on February 04,
2016 with an initial temperature of 26.08 C.

Results and Discussion

During the driest month in SLSUCAS Quadrangle in Lucban, Quezon, a total
of 46 random samples of shrubs were
collected using 9 quadrats in 1462.5 area.
Researchers randomly sampled 0.6% of the
whole are. Using PASW statistics the
standard deviation (sd), standard error (sx),
95% confidence intervals (ci), and variance
to mean ratio (s2/x), were calculated and
resulted to 4.1062, 1.36784, +/- 3.15633 and
3.29961 respectively. The population density
per m2 lies between 3.74126 and 6.47874.
The estimated true population of shrubs
within the survey area lies within 7 471.069
7475.681. Whereas, the population
dispersion is said to be clumped that
individuals occur in aggregations.

Table 1. Population Parameters

ation Density

Population Estimate

1 shrubs/m2

7473.375 shrubs

ndard Error

95% Confidence
Interval

1.36784

Summary and Conclusion

Population density, estimate, and
Population
spatial
distribution are some of the basic
Dispersion
principle of statistical inference and methods
3.30 > 1
Clumped
of:ecology.
Variance toThe
mean
study conducted was used to

3.15633
Table 1 summarizes the results in
terms of quantitative data, since the
organisms observed were immobilize or not
moving a quadrat method is used to sample
the selected area to be studied.
On the study conducted, the
expression of dispersion pattern of shrubs
were found to be clumped or aggregate,
since the value of variance to mean ratio
(s2/x) is 3.29961 3.30 or greater than one.
The variance to mean ration allows us to test
the statistical significance of dispersion
patterns and to test whether this is
significantly different from a random
dispersion pattern, a test statistics were
performed using the value of 1.96 as the
quota number for determining whether it is
different from a random dispersion. Since
the value of t-statistics is 4.59922, it
assumed that in a 95% level significance,
there is enough evidence to say that the
dispersion pattern of the shrub in SLSUCAS quadrangle is clumped or aggregate
with a sample size of 5.11 shrubs/m2.
Whereas the standard error, was used to get
the accuracy of the standard deviation of the
sample population.

determine the abundancy of shrubs in

SLSU-CAS quadrangle and to know what
kind of spatial dispersion pattern were being
expressed in the sample site. The study done
was conducted at SLSU-CAS Quadrangle on
February 04, 2016 with an initial
temperature of 26.08C. Measurements and
estimation of population density with spatial
dispersion patterns were analyzed through
descriptive statistics and statistical software.
As supported by the results, it can be
concluded that there is a high abundancy of
shrubs in SLSU-CAS quadrangle during the
month of January and February. Whilst it
can also be concluded that at 95% level of
significance, there is enough to say that the
spatial dispersion of shrub in SLSU-CAS
quadrangle is not randomly distributed,
supporting the idea that the spatial pattern of
distribution of shrubs in SLSU-CAS
quadrangle are clumped or aggregate.

Literature Cited. Baxter, Jim. Spring 2015.

Department of Biological Sciences. Chicago
State University. Sacramento. pp. 5-7, 1217, 42-44; Krebs, Charles. 1998. Ecological
Methodology. Second Edition. University of
British Columbia. Addison Wesley
Longman, Inc. pp. 1-31