Kite diagrams

Kite Diagrams

These are again more uncommon diagrams due to the limited amount of data that can be plotted using them.

Kite diagrams have two axis, and in a way are similar to bar graphs. The X-axis has one or more categories and the Y-axis the measurement sites. These graphs are most commonly used to show plant succession, with different plants forming the different categories on the X-axis. A central line is drawn up the graph from each category on the X-axis, and at each measurement site the percentage cover of each plant is plotted. However the value is divided into two, with half of the result being plotted one side of the line and half the other side of the line, thus creating a kite shape. If there was none of a particular plant present then a cross is simply marked on the line to represent 0% cover at this site. In this manner kite diagrams are divergent diagrams, as the values diverge from a central line.

An example Diagram (this simply swaps the axis around which shows just the same thing but horizontally):

http://www.geography-fieldwork.org/

These diagrams are harder to construct but generally easy to interpret, and clearly show patterns of change and allow a number of different data sets to be plotted on the same graph. They are most useful for showing a change over distance, such as plant succession; however they have a very limited use, and I have only ever seen them used to show succession.