Floristic Quality Assessment

Having taken surveys to determined the composition of plants in each workzone, we are able to calculate the Floristic Quality Index (FQI) for each area, and for the management unit and site as a whole. So what exactly is this index? Each native plant in the region is given a coefficient of conservatism (C Value) ranging from 0 to 10, and this is a measure of how well the species tolerates disturbance. Those plants on the lower end of the scale are highly tolerant, and don't care if they're growing in a high quality prairie or a ditch by the side of the road. Plants with high C-values are a lot more fussy, and their presence may idicate a habitat is less disturbed and of greater ecological significance.

If you sum all the C Values of plants found in an area, then divide this by the total number of native plants (species richness), you will have obtained the Mean C value. Multiplying this value by the square root the of the species richness gives you FQI. So, if there is a hundrend species recorded, and the Mean C was calculated as 4, the FQI would be 4 x √(100) which is 40. Had there only been 64 species, then the multiplier would be 8 instread of 10 and you would have a FQI of 32.

You you keep in mind that the C Value is not a measure of a plants importance within the ecosytem but merely a tool to gauge the health of the habitat. There are many species with a zero value that are hosts plants and valuable food sources. Trying to repopulate a disturbed area with highly conservative species is not going to transform the area into a better habitat overnight. In fact, it may be smarter to reseed with the low C value species that are likely to establish sooner and hold their own amidst resprouts and unwanted arrivals.

FQI By Workzone

In the tables below, I have totalled the number of species per workzone by status, with the status being one of the following:

  • baseline: species originally present prior to any seeding (green bar)
  • new: additional species establish following seeding (yellow bar)
  • seeded: species that have been seeded but not yet detected (short yellow bar)
  • target: potential species are a result of future seedings (short orange bar)
By Workzone

The wetness coefficient provides an indication of how wet an area is based on the wetland codes of each plant. Obligate (OBL) wetland plants have a value of -2, facultative wetland (FACW) -1, facultative (FAC) 0, facultative upland (FACU) 1, and upland (UPL) plants 2. Averaging all the values provides a value for the entire workzone.

Workzone Habitat
Baseline
New Species
Richness
Mean C
Baseline FQI
FQI
Seeded
Target
Target FQI
 FQI
Wetness
Introduced
Total
Site. 198 27 225 4 55 62 7 38 75
0.2 71 296
F1 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
F1.1Old Field 0 0 0 0 0
2 2
F2 105 12 117 4 39 41 1 59 59
0.4 31 148
F2.1.1Forest 38 0 38 5 29 29 0 0 29
0.4 3 41
F2.1.2Forest 37 0 37 5 29 29 0 5 33
0.3 2 39
F2.1.3Forest 29 0 29 5 26 26 0 0 26
0.5 1 30
F2.1.4Forest 21 0 21 4 20 20 0 12 19
0.2 2 23
F2.2.1Forest 57 2 59 4 32 32 0 9 37
0.6 11 70
F2.2.2Forest 21 0 21 4 18 18 0 0 18
0.4 5 26
F2.2.3Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F2.2.4Forest 19 0 19 4 20 20 0 0 20
0.6 5 24
F2.3.1Forest 28 0 28 4 22 22 0 0 22
0.8 7 35
F2.3.2Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F2.4.1Forest 34 9 43 3 15 18 0 38 36
0.4 17 60
F2.4.2Old Field 21 2 23 3 12 13 0 53 35
0.6 7 30
F2.4.3Forest 35 3 38 3 16 17 2 57 36
0.7 13 51
F2.4.4Marsh 37 0 37 3 21 21 0 2 21
0.4 10 47
F2.5.1Forest 12 0 12 4 15 15 0 0 15
0.8 1 13
F2.5.2Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F3 22 1 23 4 22 21 0 0 21
0.6 7 30
F3.1.1Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F3.1.2Forest 1 0 1 5 5 5 0 0 5
-2.0 0 1
F3.2.1Forest 21 1 22 4 21 21 0 0 21
0.7 7 29
F3.2.2Forest 15 0 15 4 17 17 0 0 17
0.9 6 21
F3.2.3Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F3.3.1Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F3.3.2Forest 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
F4 50 8 58 4 24 27 1 37 42
0.3 19 77
F4.1Forest 32 1 33 3 16 17 0 4 19
0.4 16 49
F4.2Forest 24 1 25 3 14 14 0 29 28
0.0 12 37
F4.3Scrubland 4 0 4 1 2 2 0 0 2
0.8 1 5
F4.4Forest 21 3 24 4 15 17 1 32 33
0.4 7 31
F4.5Forest 22 8 30 4 16 20 0 40 39
0.3 10 40
F4.6Forest 8 0 8 4 12 12 0 0 12
0.4 6 14
G1 102 27 129 4 33 43 10 59 65
0.2 38 167
G1.1.1Old Field 25 19 44 3 11 23 0 58 44
0.0 12 56
G1.1.2Prairie 38 10 48 3 13 19 0 13 25
0.4 13 61
G1.1.3Prairie 25 13 38 3 10 19 18 48 47
0.4 10 48
G1.1.4Sedge Meadow 29 8 37 3 15 19 19 53 48
-0.2 13 50
G1.1.5Forest 4 0 4 2 4 4 0 11 5
0.8 3 7
G1.2.1Old Field 9 8 17 4 7 17 0 10 16
0.5 5 22
G1.2.2Old Field 2 0 2 3 4 4 0 11 4
2.0 1 3
G1.2.3Old Field 16 9 25 4 11 20 0 9 18
0.5 8 33
G1.3.1Old Field 21 3 24 3 10 12 18 19 28
0.2 14 38
G1.3.2Old Field 34 2 36 2 14 14 0 25 22
0.5 21 57
G1.3.3Old Field 22 2 24 3 15 16 0 23 23
0.6 14 38
G1.3.4Old Field 23 7 30 3 10 15 0 39 34
0.6 18 48
G1.4.1Old Field 13 0 13 3 10 10 0 30 29
0.5 6 19
G1.4.2Forest 5 0 5 5 10 10 0 12 10
0.6 3 8
G1.4.3Prairie 27 17 44 4 17 26 0 93 55
0.4 12 56
G1.4.4Old Field 27 0 27 2 10 10 0 23 20
0.1 9 36
G3 18 0 18 2 8 8 0 6 8
0.6 9 27
G3.2.1Old Field 18 0 18 2 8 8 0 6 8
0.6 9 27
G3.4.5Old Field 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 1 2
M1 32 4 36 3 16 19 0 8 18
0.4 26 62
M1.1Old Field 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 11 3
1.0 3 4
M1.2Old Field 30 4 34 3 14 17 0 8 16
0.3 23 57
M1.3 4 0 4 5 10 10 0 0 10
0.8 3 7
W1 64 12 76 3 23 29 0 62 50
0.2 32 108
W1.1.1Old Field 34 9 43 3 17 23 1 23 28
0.3 22 65
W1.1.2Old Field 26 8 34 3 13 18 0 16 21
0.5 12 46
W1.1.3Old Field 32 13 45 3 14 22 0 30 36
0.7 21 66
W1.1.4 4 0 4 2 4 4 0 23 18
0.5 2 6
W1.2.1 0 0 0 0 45 26
0 0
W1.3.1Old Field 2 0 2 1 1 1 0 32 17
-0.5 7 9
W1.3.2Old Field 25 0 25 3 15 15 0 49 30
-0.6 14 39

data as of

Map

Workzone Distribution

Distribution >50%
Distribution 25-50%
Distribution <25%
New Species