Aims
This exercise seeks to characterize sand dune community development by means of flowering plant distribution and soil data gathered along a transect. The transect runs south to north across the dune at right angles to the Atlantic Ocean. The plant distribution data is plotted as a kite diagram which can used to identify patterns in the presence, absence and abundance of species. Data relating to soil conditions (soil organic content and sodium concentration) were also collected and can be presented graphically. Their analysis provides an insight into the successional processes at work at the site. Some images of the site and the survey can be seen in the associated video.
This exercise allows you to practice graph-drawing skills (either by hand or computer). It also requires you to interpret the significance of the changes in plant distribution and relate these to environmental factors.
The exercise aims to introduce you to the processes that are involved in sand dune succession. Some of the features of the sand dune succession on the study site can be seen in the photo montage.
