Biology field trip
Biology Field Trip Report (Starfish Bay)
Aim / objective of the field trip
To investigate the abundance and vertical distribution of organisms (i.e., Batillaria sp., bivalves and crabs) along the intertidal gradient.
Physical factors
Air temperature
Water temperature
Air temperature 1
32℃
Water temperature 1
32.3℃
Air temperature 2
31.1℃
Water temperature 2
32.7℃
Air temperature 3
30.8℃
Water temperature 3
32.5℃
Average air temperature
31.3℃
Average water temperature
32.5℃
Slope profile
Distribution and abudance of organisms, i.e., Batillaria sp., bivalves and crabs
Discussion
Abundance and distribution of organisms
Bivalves are distributed along from 2.5m to 47.5m away from the coastline. The graph shows a large range of distribution. As sea water also brings food for bivalves, wherever the sea water can reach, bivalves can live there. Therefore, bivalves have a wide distribution along the transect line. For the abundance, it is quite even along the transect line, except the region 47.5m away from the coastline in transect line 1, there was a large group of bivalves found. This may due to the random distribution of the bivalves in the past. Because bivalves adopt a sedentary or even sessile lifestyle, they often spend their whole lives in the area where they first settled as juveniles. This may be a suitable explanation for this phenomenon. The abundance of bivalves should be similar along the transect line, because the environmental factors are similar underground. Therefore, the survival chance of bivalves should also resemble in different regions.
Batillaria sp. is distributed along from 2.5m to 47.5m away from the coastline. At the region of 17.5m, 27.5m and 37.5m away from the coastline, the average abundance of Batillaria sp. is high and it reaches the highest at the region of 37.5m away from the coastline. At those regions, the water level and the moisture of the soil are optimum for Batillaria sp. to grow as
Aim / objective of the field trip
To investigate the abundance and vertical distribution of organisms (i.e., Batillaria sp., bivalves and crabs) along the intertidal gradient.
Physical factors
Air temperature
Water temperature
Air temperature 1
32℃
Water temperature 1
32.3℃
Air temperature 2
31.1℃
Water temperature 2
32.7℃
Air temperature 3
30.8℃
Water temperature 3
32.5℃
Average air temperature
31.3℃
Average water temperature
32.5℃
Slope profile
Distribution and abudance of organisms, i.e., Batillaria sp., bivalves and crabs
Discussion
Abundance and distribution of organisms
Bivalves are distributed along from 2.5m to 47.5m away from the coastline. The graph shows a large range of distribution. As sea water also brings food for bivalves, wherever the sea water can reach, bivalves can live there. Therefore, bivalves have a wide distribution along the transect line. For the abundance, it is quite even along the transect line, except the region 47.5m away from the coastline in transect line 1, there was a large group of bivalves found. This may due to the random distribution of the bivalves in the past. Because bivalves adopt a sedentary or even sessile lifestyle, they often spend their whole lives in the area where they first settled as juveniles. This may be a suitable explanation for this phenomenon. The abundance of bivalves should be similar along the transect line, because the environmental factors are similar underground. Therefore, the survival chance of bivalves should also resemble in different regions.
Batillaria sp. is distributed along from 2.5m to 47.5m away from the coastline. At the region of 17.5m, 27.5m and 37.5m away from the coastline, the average abundance of Batillaria sp. is high and it reaches the highest at the region of 37.5m away from the coastline. At those regions, the water level and the moisture of the soil are optimum for Batillaria sp. to grow as