Macroinvertebrate identification is nearing completion and the data is starting to show its nuances. Below is an updated graph of sampling location versus scores of indices of biotic integrity results (still in progress), as well as my newest draft of my poster which I will be presenting at the Sage Undergraduate Research Conference at Cal State Channel Islands on May 9th.
My spring break was dedicated to dissecting Emerita analoga and boy did it make me crabby (joking!). It was a wonderful time to tie up some loose ends and take some great snapshots of those crabs!
In this shot, I’m measuring the sand crab with calipers.
This shot shows me measuring the carapace of the sand crab.
Digging for sand crabs the week before Spring Break. Hopefully this time I’ll find more samples….heres hoping.
Heading to the beach sometime soon? Take a short break out of your trip to participate in a hashtag campaign that’s catching on on coasts around the world!
Take two minutes to pick up whatever trash you can locate on the shore, and properly dispose of it in wastebaskets, or take it back with you when you leave. Before disposing of the garbage, take a photo of your findings, and share it online with the hashtag #2MinuteBeachClean. This campaign is rapidly catching fire with beachgoers around the world, and is encouraging people not only to clean up when they visit the beach, but also sharing what sort of trash is being left on our beaches.
Beach pollution and litter is a major problem affecting wildlife on our local coasts, and it takes more than just one person to solve it. But even one person can make a difference, so snap some photos of the trash you pick up the next time you go out, and encourage your followers to do so as well with #2MinuteBeachClean!
Check out some Twitter results here: https://twitter.com/search?q=%232minutebeachclean&src=typd
The website of the film that pioneered the movement: http://beachclean.net/
Check out my Capstone Research Page for a more comprehensive look on my current study!
Here is a great new tool to compare things at two points in time.
Lake Shasta
Zuma Beach
After concluding the Common Garden study at CSU Channel Islands on March 31, 2015 I censused successfully germinated seedlings for survival.
Figure 1: % Germination and Survival of SRI Island Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana insularis) with different irrigation and leaf litter treatments. HP = High Irrigation, LP = Low Irrigation, +LL = Leaf Litter Presence, -LL = Leaf Litter Absence.
The take away …
The presence or absence of leaf litter appears to be a critical factor in germination and survival under drought (LP) conditions. Without the presence of leaf litter or consistent rains (HP) the Island Torrey pine seed bank viability is highly impacted.
Over the past few weeks I have been working hard to quantify the reproductive habitat for the Island Torrey pine. Using ArcMap v. 10.21 I began testing several distances (m) using Global Moran’s I for each grove. This test performs a statistical analysis for trees with (seedlings+saplings) and clusters reproductive trees with a high or low value of (seedlings+saplings) giving a highly significant (P<0.001) distance between individuals. I then performed a Hot Spot Analysis for each grove using this significant distance. The following maps show the current reproductive area based upon a high or low density of (seedlings+saplings) around a reproductive parent tree.
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