Biologists in Beautiful Sunny Wales
BackA Level biologists attended an intense three days at Dale Fort in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Dr Steve Morrell and Helen Lewis introduced our students to real live diversity on the rocky shore of Castle Beach using stratified sampling and the SACFOR relative abundance scale. The biologists also investigated the effect of exposure on the mean shell length of Littorina saxatilis (the rough periwinkle) and estimated the population size of crabs living under the Dale pontoon.
Their main project involved an investigation into the haloseral succession on the Gann Saltmarsh using systematic sampling and point- frame quadrats to record species’ abundance and distribution with increasing age/height of the saltmarsh. All data collected was statistically analysed with either the Student’s T-test or Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient late in the evening!
Leanne Paterson, Head of Biology
