Transcript Slide 1

The Shore Thing Project
www.marlin.ac.uk/shore_thing
Shore Thing Aims
“To generate records of marine wildlife by
facilitating intertidal biological surveys at
sites around the British Isles, and to make
the results available to all on the Internet.
In addition we aim to raise awareness of
marine conservation amongst the
participants and the wider community”.
CLIMATE
CHANGE
Climate Change
Causes
• CO2 Emissions from cars, aircraft, power plants
• Methane
• Nitrous Oxide from fertilizers, cars with catalytic
converters and burning of organic matter
• Deforestation
Climate Change
Impacts
• Sea level rise
• Melting of polar ice caps
• Change in weather patterns becoming more
unpredictable
• Ocean acidification
• Rise in sea temperatures
– Change in the distribution of species
Sea Surface temperatures
Mean annual SST ºC
(Plymouth)
13.5
13.0
12.5
12.0
11.5
11.0
1860
1880
1900
1920
1940
Year
1960
1980
2000
MarClim Project
(www.mba.ac.uk/marclim)
Over 4 years scientists surveyed rocky shores around the country and
compared contemporary data with historical records.
Tectura testudinalis
Osilinus lineatus
THE
PROJECT
Why take part in the Shore Thing?
Scientists need information
now on the distribution of
certain marine species,
from as many locations as
possible in order to track
patterns and changes
related to climate change.
Participation
• National project
• Began in April 2006
• Over 250 surveys
completed at 128 sites
around the UK
• 40 schools
• Over 3,000 participants
Survey Protocol
• Designed using standard field
techniques and MarClim
methodology
• Has to be followed so data
can be compared
• Surveys take place twice a
year, summer and autumn
• In two parts:
• Transect survey
• 20 minute timed species search
Arrival at the shore
• Check tide tables – time of low
water
• Health & Safety – risks on the
shore
• Seashore Code
• Find suitable site for survey or
locate start point of previous
survey from compass
bearings/GPS
reading/photographs
Finding the middle station
• From local tide tables determine the height of the middle
shore.
• Take largest tide of the year and divide the height of high
water by two.
• One person stands at upper station with ranging pole
• Second person walks down the shore with the other pole
• Upper shore person looks along their pole at a certain height
to a height on the second pole and then out to the horizon
• When all our level that is the middle station.
Levelling
Transect Survey
• Shore sampled at 3 stations;
upper, middle and lower.
• Four quadrats should be placed
randomly at each station.
• Do not sample rockpools as they
are a different habitat.
• Algae and animals such as
barnacles should be recorded as
percentage cover.
Canopy
• At the middle and lower stations you will need to record %
cover of the large seaweeds.
Undercover
• Gently move the canopy to
one side to reveal the
seaweed and animals below.
• Be careful to check for any
animals within the weed.
They need to be included in
the quadrat record.
Climate change and non-native species
Timed Species Search
• Search for 20 minutes in one of
three habitats: rockpools,
boulders/crevices/overhangs or
open rock
• Each student searches for one or
two species
• Use ‘Flash’ cards to help with ID
• Record abundance as:
Abundance Scale
• Abundant (A): Definitely found at certain
level on the shore.
• Frequent (F): Definitely found after a little
searching.
• Rare (R):
Intensive search for 1 or 2
individuals
• Not found (N): Not found after searching.
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Based on SACFORN
Photographs
• Important to relocate survey site
• Permanent record of species within quadrat
• Can verify species ID
Data handling
www.marlin.ac.uk/shore_thing
MySQL Database
Retrieving Data
Google Maps
National Biodiversity Network
ROCKY SHORE
ECOLOGY
Tides
• Tides are caused by the
gravitational pull of the moon
and sun
• There are generally two tidal
cycles in 24 hrs
• The rise and fall of the tide
varies depending on whether it
is a neap or spring tide
• Tidal range varies around the
UK coast.
The Rocky Shore Environment
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All species specially adapted
Marine and terrestrial
Exposure high
Changing conditions
Different zones on the shore
Location important for
identification
Environmental Variations
Upper shore
Lower shore
‘Splash’ Zone
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Extremely exposed
Salt spray
Conditions extremely variable
Dominated by lichens
Rarely submerged
Upper shore
• Very exposed
• Conditions very variable
• Diversity low dominated by
channelled wrack and small
periwinkles
• Submerged for short periods
• Exposed for long periods
Middle shore
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Moderately exposed
Conditions moderately
variable
Dominated by fucoids,
barnacles, molluscs and
gastropods
Species depends on exposure
Submerged and exposed
every tide
Lower Shore
• Less exposed
• Conditions relatively stable
• High diversity of specially
adapted marine species
• Dominated by kelps, red algae,
sea squirts and sponges
• Submerged most of the time,
only exposed on low spring
tides
Rocky Shore Identification
Major groups/phylum of species are:
• Algae (seaweeds)
• Lichens
• Marine Invertebrates (animals without backbones)
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Porifera (sponges)
Cnidaria (anemones/jellyfish/hydroids)
Crustacea (crabs/barnacles)
Mollusca (top shells/limpets)
Echinoderms (sea urchins/starfish)
• Marine Chordates (animals with backbones)
• Tunicates (sea squirts)
• Fish
Marine Algae
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Brown – Wracks and Kelps
Green
Red – includes encrusting algae
Flowering plants such as seagrass
Lichens
• Fungus and algae living together in symbiosis
• Often an encrusting layer on rocks
• Found in the splash zone
Marine Invertebrates
(animals without backbones)
• Porifera - Sponges
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Attached to surfaces
Very simple animals, covered with pores
Rounded or branched forms
Often need microscope to identify them
• Cnidaria - Anemones, corals, hydroids and
jellyfish
– ‘Mouth’ surrounded by tentacles
– Attached and free swimming forms
– Sometimes forming large colonies
• Crustacea - Crabs, lobsters, shrimps etc.
– Segmented body covered in hard plates
– Divided into three segments
– Jointed limbs
– Adapted to live in every marine environment
• Mollusca - Snails, bivalves, chitons, limpets,
sea slugs etc.
– Largest most diverse group
– Gastropods have large muscular foot
– Bivalves body surrounded by two shells held together with
a hinge
• Echinoderms - Starfish, sea urchins, sea
cucumbers and brittlestars
– Tube-feet, internal skeleton of bony plates
– Often external skeletons
Marine Chordates
(animals with backbones)
• Tunicates – Star of ascidian and sea squirts
– Larval stage has a backbone
– Two openings body covered in ‘tunic’ of jelly
– Colonies sometimes confused with sponges
• Fish – Shanny, blenny, rockling, clingfish etc.
– Divided into two main groups, elasmobranchs (sharks, rays etc)
and teleosts (bony fish)
– Elasmobranchs have a skeleton of cartilage
– Teleosts skeleton is bony
Key Features
1
2
Cone shaped shell, up to 2.5 cm high
Bushy brown seaweed
Tooth on inside of mouth opening
Covered in what looks like small
leaves and tiny round floats
Shell grey-green
Very dense, feels coarse and wiry
Shiny ‘mother of pearl’ inside shell
opening
May form long lengths (like a washing
line)
Prominent midrib
Large round hole on underside of the
shell
Pairs of almost spherical gas
bladders
Dark olive brown
Up to 1 m long
3
Dull greenish in colour with reddishpurple broad diagonal stripes
Small top shell 1.6 am high. 2.2 cm
across
4
Species No. 1
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Cone shaped shell, up to 2.5 cm high
Tooth on inside of mouth opening
Shell grey-green
Shiny ‘mother of pearl’ inside shell opening
H
Osilinus lineatus
Species No. 2
• Bushy brown seaweed
• Covered in what looks like small leaves and tiny round
floats
• Very dense, feels coarse and wiry
• May form long lengths (like a washing line)
D
Sargassum muticum
Species No. 3
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Prominent midrib
Pairs of almost spherical gas bladders
Dark olive brown
Up to 1 m long
F
Fucus Vesiculosus
Species No. 4
• Small round hole on underside of the shell
• Dull greenish in colour with reddish-purple
broad diagonal stripes
• Small top shell 1.6 cm high. 2.2 cm across
C
Gibbula umbilicalis