examiners can ask us to design an experiment in order to explore an aspect of ecology. How would I go about doing this?

Name the exact type of equipment used i.e. belt or line transect; frame, open or point quadrat. The answer to this will relate to the aims of the study. Trancsects are useful for studying changes over different gradients. An open quadrat may be more appropriate if calculating percentage cover. A frame quadrat may be more appropriate if you are counting individual taxa. And a point quadrat is useful to reduce sampling bias. The best way to know the applications of each type of equipment is to research them individually. Youtube videos are good to help visualise.

Outline how you will use this equipment: how long will your transect be? What is the size of your quadrat? How many samples do you intend to take? If you are using a belt transect, at what intervals you will place your quadrats? Again, the use of the equipment is determined by the study area. You want your study to be representative. If distances are not specified in the question, make sure transects run the full length of the study area. The quadrats should be big enough to get a representative sample, but not too large, as this would waste time. Be systematic and objective.

Define what data you will collect: will you count all species? For the most abundant species it is often more appropriate to calculate percentage cover. How do you intend to identify the species? (Taxonomy keys are a good shout).

Repeats! A minimum of three repeats is a good rule of thumb in ecology. Make sure that the repeats are inside the study area and are identical in the equipment used and the procedure. Also, if the question is asking you to monitor change, repeats at different times of the year, under different conditions may be appropriate.