Graphs Basics, Formats,

Oral vs. Written, Etc.VOR vs. GRSP Territory Density

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Fig. 1. Grasshopper sparrow (GRSP) territory density in relationship to vegetation density (VOR = visual obstruction readings

on Fort Riley, Kansas, 2005.

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATONS Spring 2016 - Althoff

Lecture

04

Figures

• Meant to ____________ or present technical info that may not be easy to do with text (i.e., lots of text)

• Definitely the old adage “a picture is worth a 1,000 words” applies to use of Figures.

• Typically, legends for Figures are at the bottom of the graph, drawing, schematic, picture, etc. vs. the top for Tables.

Figures: general tendencies• Seldom used in _____________• Frequent in _______________

ex. Country state/region…. Multiple study sites

Sometimes to show topography orvegetation types (common inoral presentations, rare in written)

• If in __________, usually diagram of experimental design or sampling design or special equipment

• Most common in _____________• Almost never in ______________ unless presenting a

new model or process/theory

• Include ______• Include ______• Minimize clutter•1-2 font types max• for written, think B & W

MAP FIGURES

• For oral presentations... _____ is often a good option

MAP FIGURES

• be ________ with fonts

• try to keep things to relative scale__________ balancE detail with simplicity

SCHEMATIC FIGURES

Figures--schematics: oral presentations

• If “complex”…then start with basic or first type then “_____” from one slide to the next.

• May require lots of verbal ‘add on’ commentary to

be sure audience understands what you want them to understand or recognize

• Seldom can do “add” approach for a written publication/report.

Point-Intercept

• Measures distance (length) of plant coverage along line

• Or, measure GAP between plants (estimate of bare ground)

• Gives estimate of coverage…. improvement over point-intercept method

SCHEMATIC FIGURES ORAL

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Point-Intercept

• Measures distance (length) of plant coverage along line

• Or, measure GAP between plants (estimate of bare ground)

• Gives estimate of coverage…. improvement over point-intercept method

Line-Intercept

SCHEMATIC FIGURES ORAL

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Point-Intercept

• Quadrats every 5 m • 0.25 m2 frame for

forb frequency, and presence/absence

• 0.1 m2 frame set inside 0.25 m2 frame for grass (graminoid) frequency

• Compared results to point-intercept method

Line-Intercept Quadrats

Prosser, C.W., K.M. Skinner, and K.K. Sedivec. 2003. Comparison of 2 techniques for monitoring vegetation on military lands. Journal of Range Management 56:446-544.

*Done in “transitional” grasslands: between tall- and mixed grass prairie

SCHEMATIC FIGURES ORAL 3

PHOTO FIGURES

• label in the “image” if directing reader to specific feature

• good quality photos are essential

•Figure legend ____ important than you would think….

Fig. 1. Residual tank tracks evident by earlier green-upof grassland patches in spring than areas notsubjected to crushing of vegetation the prior to green –up.

Fig. 1. Pre-rehabilitation conditions (A- September 2004) vs. post-rehabilitation (B-July 2005) on a training site on Fort Riley, Kansas. Off-road vehicle tracks visible in 2004 were “filled in” predominately by grasses and forbs in 2005.

WRITTEN

A B

September 2004 July 2005 (10 months later)

The off-road tracks visible in 2004 (L) aremostly grass/forb covered by July 2005 (R).

ORAL

Figures that are data plotted or graphed

• Clearly label ____ and _____ --including ______• May need _____ to symbols/codes used either on the

graph itself or in the figure legend…or both• Keep ____________ to 2 or less

• Font sizes depend on space and importance—but ___ _______________…especially for oral presentations

• _______________________ for _____ presentations

• Carefully choose when to “connect the dots”

Figures that are data plotted or graphed…con’t

• Almost always have ______________________ variable on the X-axis

• Almost always have the ____________________ variable on the Y-axis

exception would be if dealing with a “vertical” measure for the predictor variable:

ex: height in tree depth in the

ground

Other Figure-related guidelines on data plotted or graphed

• Do _____ have to start an axis at zero (either X- or Y-)• If multiple graphs in a series, then be consistent with

the scale (otherwise…misleading if not noted in Figure legend)

• Avoid too much on a single graph of data—may need to be multiple years or study sites on separate “identically” formatted graphs

• Sometimes 2 Y-axes are appropriate—excellent way to show 2 different response variables

• Careful with _________________—can appear to be missing if no notation

Graph types for Data

• Bar (histogram): vertical & horizontal• Scatter plot• Plots with “lines” = line graphs (i.e., connect

the dots or trend lines) • Plots with error, range bars• Pie charts• Etc.

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Fig. 1. Grasshopper sparrow (GRSP) territory density inrelationship to vegetation density (VOR = visual obstruction

readings on Fort Riley, Kansas, 2005.

WRITTEN

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Plant Density (biomass) vs. Territory Density

Connecting the dots….good or bad?

Multiple years….too much on one graph?

Fig. 19. Nematode family richness (weighted means with 90% confidence intervals)of soil samples versus the disturbance index (2002: rs =-0.68**, 2004: rs =-0.78***),on Fort Riley, Kansas.

WRITTEN

2002: rs =-0.68**, 2004: rs =-0.78***.ORAL

Example:multiple Y-axes

In summary…

• Keep it __________

• Keep it __________ as possible

• Keep it __________

• Be sure it does convey a “picture”—even if ______ (vs. photograph)