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Blog Post Three: Ongoing Observations by E. C. Bell
Feather embedded in seaweed, grasses & leaves at Inlet site.
The biological attribute of interest of my study stems from the comparison of two gradients approximately 5km apart which have differences in physical traits of the transitions from forest to shoreline affected by environmental factors, including weather patterns and soil structure. The two gradients lie across Esowista Peninsula from each other, the Eastern inlet site and the Western coastal site. The ‘piece’ in this comparison will be the variance in ecotone transition and the ‘pattern’ will be the similarities in species with distinct differences in their physical traits and interactions. The elevation of the inlet location has a more gradual slope directly through the shifts in environmental factors. There are pebbles that increase in size to boulders of beach-ball size at the forest line, more of both seaweeds than grasses towards the pebbles, holding feathers, shells and bits of driftwood. The coastal site rises steeply for approximately 1m from sand to brush, covered in grasses, some seaweeds, yet then tapers off to a gradual slope covered in thick brush, mostly Gaultheria shallon. There is a fairly distinct line where stunted Pinus contorta takes over, looking very bonsai in shape of the needles with a sparse undergrowth – very little fauna of any species was growing on the forest floor. It was a messy situation getting through the thick brush.
Western Coastal site Eastern Inlet site behind the shoreline brush
The hypothesis I am considering for this comparison of two environmental gradients is: there will be degrees of variation in the expression of populations and their densities within existing species due to tidal patterns and differences in weather exposure experienced over time. The ensuing prediction is: because of the different micro climates created by topographical land mass and Eastern facing aspect, the inlet site will have more biological diversity but less density in flora and interacting fauna than the Western facing aspect due to the open ocean exposure and pattern of winter storms, which have both shaped the gradients and variance that there exist. One categorical response variable may be variance in the dimensions of leaf size in Gaultheria shallon assuming that each location receives a similar exposure to sunlight. One continuous explanatory variable may be exposure to wind over a range of temperatures.
E. Carmen Bell
