I selected the basin for the assignment, for many reasons. The Basin was not the most diverse plot of land studied, but it most defiantly had a good selection. The Basin consisted of Kentucky Blue grass with a ranking of 0, the Compass plant with a rank of 5, New England Aster with a rank of 4, Indian Grass with a rank of 5, Yellow Coneflower with a rank of 4, Big Bluestem with a rank of 4, Hairy Aster with a rank of 1, Queen Anne's Lace with a rank of 1, Switch grass with a rank of 5, Little Blue stem with a rank of 5, Stiff Golden rod with a rank of 4, Sweet clovers with a rank of -2, tall golden rod with a rank of 1, Purple Coneflower with a rank of 8, Thistle with a rank of -3 and Rosin Weed with a rank of 5. The total sum of all rank scores equals forty-seven, and the over all rank is 2.94. .
The Basin has many similarities with the other possible selections. Such plants as Tall Goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace appear in more then one plot of land. Also such physical characteristics of the land as soil fertility and location. Almost all the "prairie" surrounding Wheaton Warrenville South is basically the same. The dirt is more dry then wet, most of the plants by this time in the year are dying, and what is left is close to death. In my opinion the prairie area of South already has decent amounts of plants, I think that the work done should be plantings increasing diversity. Plants like "Yarrow" and "Side Oats Grama" that only appear once through out the study should be planted in "The Basin" in order to start spreading. The land is doing fairly well with the plants that are their right now, but with more diverse conditions the opportunities of observation greatly increases. .
The Prairie is only planted so the students can observe and learn. Hence, my proposal of adding more plants. There are always the quite obvious alterations such as planting more of the same plants, but that only really accomplishes the inevitable.
