Abstract

Quadrats are a special tool in the ecology field that allows the measurement of vegetation density for further data analysis of a habitat. The larger the quadrat cross-sectional area, the better the results of the data, which in turn can make the quadrat hard to carry through field sites. In wildlife corridor research, quadrat surveys provide a quantitative metric for habitat suitability. In this work, we consider the efficiency and ease-of-use benefits for field work in the design of a collapsible version of a quadrat using a House of Quality (standard metric for new design requirements) to assess the customer and engineering requirements along with benchmark and patented designs.  Using SolidWorks (a CAD software), we constructed a minimum viable product for a small-scale, single prototype creation through bill of materials for lab scalability. The aim of the new design is that it can be utilized by other research groups across the country. Future enhancements for this design could automate the vegetation density calculation by combining the physical quadrat with software from a photo taken at the site, saving hours on processing. The precision of density calculation can be improved by creating smaller cross-sectional areas of webbing on the detachable net. We created a House of Quality helps measure our design requirements, assess customer satisfaction through surveying, and compares old to pilot product effectiveness through time trials and botanist evaluation. We predict that this design will prove more effective saving time as well as measuring vegetation coverage with an increase in customer happiness.

Keywords

Quadrat, Design, Vegetation, Density, Efficiency, Collapsible

Date of this Version

7-30-2025

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