User: | Open Learning Faculty Member:
The study sites that I have chosen for this research project are two rocky shores in Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom: Castle beach and Jetty beach. The beaches are in close proximity to one another and they are roughly a ten-minute walk apart. Each study area is approximately 0.6 metres by 15 metres. Castle beach is an exposed shore whereas Jetty beach is a sheltered shore. Castle beach consists of lower biodiversity compared to Jetty beach. It is Jetty beach has an abundance of animal and plant species. The vegetation at Jetty beach is composed of mainly seaweeds and lichens. Both beaches consist of a fair number of dog whelks. Dog whelks are also known as rock snails. The weather at the beaches in winter was sunny but cold. The temperature was about 10 °C. The beaches were visited on February 17, 2018 at 10:30 AM.
Three questions that are interesting or striking and could form the subject of my research project are:
- How do edaphic characteristics affect the dog whelks’ abundance on Castle beach and Jetty beach?
- How does rocky shore exposure to the tide at Castle beach and Jetty beach affect the size of dog whelks?
- Does the sheltered shore consist of more soil nutrients than the exposed shore thereby supporting more biodiversity?
Castle beach
Jetty beach
great start!