After review of my data, I decided to create 4 bar graphs, one for each transect. Each set of raw data did not include all plant species, but for comparison purposes I included each species for each transect to create a more uniform visualization of the information. Although the tutorial suggested to use hatching or other patterns over shading, my limited excel skills did not allow me to achieve this and I instead used multiple colours for my bars.
I formatted my graphs into one figure in such a way to illustrate the relationship between mowing intensity (mowed vs. mowed and trimmed) and plant species presence/cover. Generally, the outcome is as I expected; the graphs visually represent the pattern of my hypothesis where there are more species present in areas that experience higher intensity of mowing. It also shows the distribution of plant species within each quadrat as well as along each transect and the figure also allows for comparison within each type of mowing treatment.
Quadrat 5 in the north centre lawn showed a greater number of species present than expected and this will be something to address in my discussion.
Remember that figures should be a summary of your data and not show all raw data. Remember that the marking guide for the final paper guides what will be marked for your figures and tables.