Central Philippine University

LIFE SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

Jaro, Iloilo City

Name : _____________________________ Date: ____________

Course: _____________________________

Bio 3103 (General Ecology)

Laboratory Exercise No. 12
Coverage, Relative coverage and Importance Value Determinations Using the Plot
Sampling Method in Assessing Aquatic Communities

I. Objectives:

1. To determine the coverage, relative coverage of different species of plants in a

community.
2. To determine the important value of species of plants in a community.

II. Materials:

Metal quadrant Pen or pencil

Data sheet Calculator

III. Procedure/Method:

1. Using the data obtained in laboratory exercise #11, compute the coverage,
relative coverage, and important value using the following formula:

a. Coverage (C) is the proportion of ground occupied by a vertical

projection to the ground from the aerial part of the plant.

Formula: Ci = ai/Ai

Where, ai = is the total area covered by species 1

Ai = total habitat area sampled

b. Relative coverage (RC) is the coverage of a given species (Ci) expressed

as a proportion of the total coverage for all species.

Formula: RCi = Ci/∑Ci

Where: ∑Ci is the sum of the coverage of all the species

c. Important value (IV)

Formula: IVi = RDi + RFi + RCi

 The IV value may range from 0 to 3.00 (or 300%). You may divide IV value by 3
(results range from 0 to 1.00 or 100%). This gives the importance percentage. The
importance value, or the importance percentage, gives us an overall estimate of the
influence or importance of a plant species in the community.

2. Compute and interpret your results.

Data:

Transect 1, Replcate 1

Gracilaria bailinae – 4, C = 20% G. bailinae – 8, C = 19 % G. bailinae – 4, C = 21%

Ulva lactuca – 3, C = 15%
Hypnea sp. – 12, C = 12%
Caulerpa racemosa – 26, C = 30 %
Sargassum sp. = 4, C = 13%
Gracilaria bailinae – 9, C = 25%
Ulva lactuca – 5, C = 10%
Hypnea sp. – 11, C = 13%
Caulerpa racemosa – 21, C = 26 %
Sargassum sp. = 8, C = 11%
Gracilaria bailinae – 7, C = 18%
Ulva lactuca – 5, C = 10%
Hypnea sp. – 10, C = 9%
Caulerpa racemosa – 22, C = 21 %
Sargassum sp. = 6, C = 16%
1Gracilaria bailinae – 7, C = 17%
Ulva lactuca – 5, C = 12%
Hypnea sp. – 10, C = 14%
Caulerpa racemosa – 26, C = 32 %
Sargassum sp. = 2, C = 6%
U. lactuca – 10, C = 25% Hypnea sp. – 11, C = 24%
C. racemosa- 6, C = 15% C. racemosa – 4, C = 10%
Sargassum sp. – 2, C = 8%
G. bailinae – 9, C = 19 % G. bailinae – 3, C = 15%
U. lactuca – 14, C = 25% Hypnea sp. – 13, C = 21%
C. racemosa- 4, C = 15% C. racemosa – 4, C = 14%
Sargassum sp. – 3, C = 8%
G. bailinae – 12, C = 19 % G. bailinae – 3, C = 15%
U. lactuca – 14, C = 25% Hypnea sp. – 14, C = 20%
C. racemosa- 5, C = 15% C. racemosa – 4, C = 8%
Sargassum sp. – 4, C = 8% Ulva fasciata- 1, C = 1%
G. bailinae – 8, C = 19 % G. bailinae – 6, C = 10%
U. lactuca – 10, C = 25% Hypnea sp. – 12, C = 21%
C. racemosa- 6, C = 15% C. racemosa – 7, C = 15%
Sargassum sp. – 2, C = 8% Ulva fasciata- 3, C = 10%
G. arcuata – 3, C = 7% Udotea sp. – 2, C = 6%
Transect 1, Replicate 2
4
Gracilaria bailinae – 6, C = 18%
Ulva lactuca – 5, C = 10%
Hypnea sp. – 8, C = 9%
Caulerpa racemosa – 26, C = 25%
Sargassum sp. = 4, C = 10%
Gracilaria bailinae – 6, C = 18%
Ulva lactuca – 7, C = 14%
Hypnea sp. – 8, C = 10%
Caulerpa racemosa – 17, C = 20 %
Sargassum sp. = 9, C = 14%
Gracilaria bailinae – 5, C = 14%
Ulva lactuca – 7, C = 15%
Hypnea sp. – 5, C = 9%
Caulerpa racemosa – 12, C = 19 %
Sargassum sp. = 8, C = 20%
Gracilaria bailinae – 5, C = 12%
Ulva lactuca – 3, C = 10%
Hypnea sp. – 5, C = 2%
Caulerpa racemosa – 13, C = 21 %
Sargassum sp. = 4, C = 10%
Transect 1, Replicate 3
Gracilaria bailinae – 6, C = 22%
Ulva lactuca – 5, C = 11%
Hypnea sp. – 10, C = 11%
Caulerpa racemosa – 20, C = 25 %
Sargassum sp. = 6, C = 15%
Gracilaria bailinae – 8, C = 21%
Ulva lactuca – 7, C = 11%
Hypnea sp. – 9, C = 10%
Caulerpa racemosa – 21, C = 20 %
Sargassum sp. = 5, C = 12%
Gracilaria bailinae – 3, C = 10%
Ulva lactuca – 7, C = 12%
Hypnea sp. – 8, C = 6%
Caulerpa racemosa – 18, C = 17%
Sargassum sp. = 6, C = 16%
1Gracilaria bailinae – 5, C = 13%
Ulva lactuca – 3, C = 9%
Hypnea sp. – 11, C = 8%
Caulerpa racemosa – 20, C = 28 %
Sargassum sp. = 4, C = 10%
Legend: C = coverage (%)
G. bailinae – 12, C = 22 % G. bailinae – 2, C = 16%
U. lactuca – 7, C = 16% Hypnea sp. – 7, C = 17%
C. racemosa- 4, C = 10% C. racemosa – 6, C = 12%
Sargassum sp.– 5, C = 12%
G. bailinae – 7, C = 14% G. bailinae – 6, C = 19%
U. lactuca – 10, C = 19% Hypnea sp. – 8, C = 16%
C. racemosa- 5, C = 16% C. racemosa – 2, C = 11%
Sargassum sp – 5, C = 12%
G. bailinae – 14, C = 17 % G. bailinae – 5, C = 19%
U. lactuca – 8, C = 16% Hypnea sp. – 6, C = 13%
C. racemosa- 3, C = 9% C. racemosa – 2, C = 6%
Sargassum sp.– 1, C = 5% Ulva fasciata- 3, C = 10%
G. bailinae – 5, C = 11 % G. bailinae – 8, C = 14%
U. lactuca – 7, C = 19% Hypnea sp. – 5 , C = 14%
C. racemosa- 4, C = 10% C. racemosa – 3, C = 8%
Sargassum sp.– 3, C = 12% Ulva fasciata- 1, C = 5%
G. arcuata – 5, C = 9% Udotea sp. – 4, C = 10%
G. bailinae – 9, C = 17 % G. bailinae – 6, C = 17%
U. lactuca – 8, C = 14% Hypnea sp. – 8, C = 14%
C. racemosa- 7, C = 12% C. racemosa – 3, C = 5%
Sargassum sp. – 1, C = 4%
Udotea sp. – 6, C = 15%
G. bailinae – 7, C = 15 % G. bailinae – 5, C = 17%
U. lactuca – 10, C = 17% Hypnea sp. – 7, C = 14%
C. racemosa- 5, C = 11% C. racemosa – 6, C = 19%
Sargassum sp. – 2, C = 6%
G. bailinae – 10, C = 14 % G. bailinae – 6, C = 25%
U. lactuca – 10, C = 18% Hypnea sp. – 9, C = 14%
C. racemosa- 3, C = 12% C. racemosa – 2, C = 6%
Sargassum sp.– 6, C = 14% Ulva fasciata- 2, C = 6%
G. bailinae – 5, C = 13 % G. bailinae – 3, C = 7%
U. lactuca – 11, C = 22% Hypnea sp. – 4, C = 12%
C. racemosa- 4, C = 10% C. racemosa – 5, C = 11%
Sargassum sp – 4, C = 17% Ulva fasciata- 6, C = 19%
G. arcuata – 5, C = 12% Udotea sp. – 4, C = 10%
IV. Results and Discussion:

V. Conclusions: