Physical Fieldwork Flashcards
What is the title for the Physical Fieldwork Investigation?
To investigate changes to dune characteristics at Knoll Beach.
What is the hypothesis for the Physical Fieldwork Investigation?
There is a significant change to the shape and vegetation on the sand dunes.
What is Succession Theory?
The theory that describes how sand dunes form from sand blown inland that is then trapped and colonised by plants.
Initially, the small embryo and fore dunes are colonised by pioneer species like sandwort and marram grass before the natural cycle of decomposition increases nutrient value and water retention makes the soil more acidic that allows other species of plant to grow, such as heather and gorse, on larger/older yellow & grey dunes.
What are some plant adaptations to the plants on the sand dunes at Knoll Beach?
marram grass - extensive root systems and curled and waxy leaves. This helps to adapt to the different growing conditions such as high wind speeds, extreme temperature, pH level, and lack of water in the soil.
What are some of the justifications of choosing Knoll Beach as our location for our Fieldwork Investigation?
– A large 2km beach with a deep and mature dune system allowed for groups to collect a 200m deep transect.
– It is a popular tourist destination allowing us to investigate the impact of human activity on the sand dunes.
What are the two risks of our Physical Fieldwork Investigation?
– Snake Bites & Ticks
– Injury from slips, trips, and falls
What was the mitigation for the two risks from our Physical Fieldwork Investigation?
– Tick checks were done and removal devices were carried by staff. Students were warned about the dangers of adders and told to walk heavily.
– Suitable site found for transect without significant inclines or steep dunes. Students made to wear suitable shoes with enough grip and ankle support.
What is an example of primary data used in the Physical Fieldwork Investigation?
Using systematic sampling to record gradient and random systematic sampling to record vegetation data every 5 meters, allowing us to draw a highly accurate transect of the dunes at Knoll Beach.
What equipment was used to record our transect?
– 50m tape measure.
– ranging poles.
– clinometer.
– quadrat.
– plant species ID sheet.
How did we present our data collected from Knoll Beach?
Data was presented as a sand dune profile - a line graph to plot gradient and shape, overlaid with a dot dispersion graph to plot plant species and pH found along the dunes.
How did you make links between the plant species found and pH data collected at Knoll Beach?
Overlaid data above the transect diagram to understand and connect suitable pH levels for certain plants.
What were the limitations to plotting our data in our diagram?
Plotting numerous forms of data require a lot of precision and care and students made mistakes therefore adding a degree of human error to the transect.
2D diagram of transect make it difficult to identify the impact of manmade footpaths along our transect shape.
Writing % vegetation cover as a number wasnt visual so reduced our ability to spot interesting patterns.
