Outline5 marksStandard
A student investigated the distribution of five species of marine invertebrates on a rocky shore using a belt transect. A frame quadrat (0.25 m²) was placed at 5 m intervals along the transect from the high tide mark (0 m) to the low tide mark (25 m). The number of individuals of each species in each quadrat was recorded and is shown in the table below.
| Distance (m) | Species A | Species B | Species C | Species D | Species E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Outline how the data from this belt transect could be used to assess the biodiversity of this rocky shore.