The Gower Peninsula

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Tayler_S

Biology Coursework Field Studies

The Gower Peninsula

Introduction

        Before deciding on what to do for my main investigation, I decided to carry out a preliminary investigation on two different beaches. One was sheltered and one was an exposed beach. This preliminary investigation will give me some knowledge of the variety of species on the beaches from which I will choose one to concentrate on in my main field study.  

         I chose a site close to Mumbles, which is near Swansea in Wales as the site for the investigation because there is a sheltered and an exposed beach very close to one another in that area. One is exposed to the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean while the other is sheltered by a bay.  I will also observe the changes in species abundances to give me an idea of where the different zones on the beaches are and so help me further with choosing my main investigation.

Preliminary Investigation

        I will be using a transect technique to record my data, this way the investigation could be repeated easily as the method is simple and allows for a margin of error. There are three types of transect but I have decided to use a belt transect for the following reasons. A line transect involves recording data along the whole length of the beach, from upper shore to lower shore, which is impractical given our time limit of between five and ten hours to record our data. A point transect is the recording of specific points along the transect line, and this is impractical as it will not produce enough data for useful statistical tests or to draw sufficient conclusions from. However, a belt transect divides the line going down the beach, and readings are taken using a quadrat at equal spaces along the line.

Quadrats – A quadrat is a simple square that has a grid inside it. This grid makes it easier to accurately approximate a percentage cover within the quadrat. I found the optimum quadrat size by starting with a small quadrat, counting the cumulative number of species found in it, then replacing that quadrat with a larger one, counting the cumulative number of species found within that area and so on until the cumulative number of species stopped increasing dramatically.

                                         

I found the optimum size in this case to be 0.5m2. Other than the quadrat, the only apparatus needed was a 10m long piece of rope. I decided to take readings at ten metre intervals by the same I way I chose the size of quadrat used. I found that taking readings at longer intervals would my results too vague and that if I took the readings at shorter intervals, I would be wasting time.

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        During the preliminary investigation, I decided that I would only record the presence of certain known species that live under certain conditions. This way, if found I could assume that these conditions are present in the areas that these species have been found. I chose these species on the basis of the knowledge that they were present on the beaches I would be taking readings from. The ten species I recorded abundance of were:

Lichens (in general)

Fucus Ceranoides – Seaweed

Fucus Serratus – Seaweed

Fucus Vesiculosus – Seaweed

Patella Vulgata – Limpet

Barnacles (in ...

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