Geography Skills - Ynyslas

What?

• Succession will occur - pioneer plants to climax vegetation
• Height of vegetation, percentage of ground cover and biodiversity will increase, but then decrease when climax vegetation is reached.

Why?

• Alkaline to acidic, decreasing pH and salt due to rainwater leading to chelation
• Increased depth in soil, organic matter, nutrients and water retention

Why this theory?

• Improves geographical knowledge
• Percentage of vegetation cover is easy and simple to test using a quadrat
• Best location for our theory
• Preliminary survey allowed us to check to see if the location was testable

• Geographical knowledge
• Textbook model is simple however doesnt consider human influence, coastal management, ecological routeways or tourism e.g. active management - removing species such as the New Zealand Pigmy Weed
• It doesnt consider natural events such as a blow out caused by stormy weather
• Doesnt consider that one side of the slope is more exposed and subject to higher exposure of climatic conditions, affecting vegetation (aspect)

• Ynyslas, West Wales, on a spit on the Dyfi estury 
• Lots of embryonic dunes
• Sediment blown in from Cardigan Bay - longshore drift

• Safe
• Good example of an active accreting near natural sand dune range, good prevailing breeze and good supply of material, being constantly renewed
• Large intertidal range
• Lack of sea defences
• Little human influence, Dyfi reserve so tourism is controlled
• Accessible with permission
• Rangers nearby for secondary data

• Safe, great example
• However only visted once, at one time of the year and collected a small sample of data
• Unable to measure embryo dunes as we would trample them
• Some areas were inaccessible
• Limitation of nature reserve - removing climax vegetation for golf course and invasive species, affecting data
• Could have visited Holkham Bay or Southwold

How?

• Premliminary survey to see if it was safe and reliable and valid
• Systematic may not be representative of the whole slope or safe, so stratified was used
• Same member for consistent data
• 2 people to check to eliminate human error

Why?

• PS: to get rid pf any incostistency, refine technique and choose between systematic and statified
• Ranging role, quadrat, height of vegetation and types of species - fitted our theory
• Stratified was safer and more representative