Measuring Abiotic Components of Ecosystems
| Abiotic Component | Measurement method | Strengths | Limitations |
|
Light Intensity |
Light-meter |
Quick and easy to use, non-invasive, accurate and precise measurement if direction and angle of use is consistent over repeats |
Can only measure at a single point, doesn't measure spectral quality or light direction, affected by shading, cloud cover and atmospheric conditions |
|
Temperature |
Thermometer |
Simple and easy to use, highly accurate if using an electronic thermometer (temperature probe), which can measure temperature of air, water and varying soil depths |
Can only measure at a single point, doesn't measure temperature fluctuations over time (unless used alongside a datalogger) |
|
Wind Speed |
Anemometer |
Quick and easy to use, non-invasive, accurate and precise measurement if direction and angle of use is consistent over repeats |
Gusty conditions can lead to large variations in data |
|
Dissolved Oxygen |
Oxygen-meter |
Can measure changes over time if used alongside a datalogger |
Can be expensive and require calibration, can be affected by temperature and salinity, or contaminated by oxygen in air if correct procedure not followed |
|
Flow Velocity |
Flow-meter |
Provides accurate measurements and can be attached to a datalogger |
Water flow can fluctuate greatly due to rainfall or ice melt, can be affected by turbulence or eddies |
|
Turbidity |
Secchi disc |
More accurate if used in shady areas of water |
Sun glare and reflections reduce visibility of disc, measurements are subjective, alternative more sophisticated optical equipment (e.g. nephelometer or turbidimeter |
|
pH |
pH meter or pH probe |
Soil pH can also be measured (using a soil test kit) |
Requires calibration, affected by surrounding environment |
|
Soil Moisture |
Evaporate water or soil moisture probe |
Fairly inexpensive (although requires use of an oven) |
Time consuming, organic soil content may be burned off during heating, reducing soil weight and giving inaccurate readings |
