Welcome to Year Twelve - Ecology - We are studying the WJEC board
Click here for list of ecology terms that are useful to know!
Here is a list of useful course textbooks - You won't find one that covers everything, so you may have to pick and choose.
A very useful site on Community and Ecosystem Dynamics is here!
Try this powerpoint presentation to examine microclimates and ecosystems.
Biodiversity - case studies:
Broadwaters Virtual pond ecosystem. Interactive diagrams of food webs and the physical conditions within a pond (microhabitats). http://www.broadwaters.fsnet.co.uk/
The Countryside Council for Wales - From the 'General information' page you will find 'habitats and species' and 'protected sites'. http://www.ccw.gov.uk/
Sand dunes (psammosere) (click here for our virtual field trip!)
Dune systems are particularly suitable for studying succession. For background information it is hard to beat Paisley University's pages on British maritime sand dunes. Both components of sand dune systems and the management issues are illustrated by good quality photographs.http://www-biol.paisley.ac.uk/bioref/Habitats/dunes1.html Dr Alan Silverside also provides field notes on Aberlady Bay, East Lothian - the UK's first local nature reserve. http://www-
biol.paisley.ac.uk/courses/silverside/EcLandUse/ELUDunes.html
JNCC Action Plan for Coastal Sand Dunes
http://www.ukbap.org.uk/plans/habitats/NBNSYS0000004633.htm
Coatham Sands on the Tees Estuary A Newton House Field Centre trip studying spatial patterns in the dunes. Fieldwork, results and conclusions. ( As published in the Geography Review, March 2001, Vol. 14, Number 4, pp14-17).
http://www.cchs.co.uk/subjects/geography/6thform/resources/sanddune/intro.htm
Solway Firth, Cumbria An example of the management of a coastal AONB - mudflats fringed by saltmarshes, sand dunes that shelter rare and delicate flowers and low peat domes of the coastal moss. Saltmarsh classed by English Nature as of international importance.
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sfp/
http://www.solwaycoast.co.uk
Dibden Bay, Hampshire A Public Inquiry has commenced into a proposed new port terminal at Dibden Bay, on the west side of Southampton Water and on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. The RSPB has objected to the proposal because of its impact on birds, other wildlife and inter-tidal habitats. http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/sites/dibdenbay.asp
Rising Sun Country Park A 400-acre brownfield site which has been redeveloped to include an organic farm, Wallsend Swallow Pond local nature reserve and a countryside centre. The park offers an alternative to the built-up world that surrounds it by looking towards a sustainable future involving an integration of nature conservation, farming, renewable energy, small business and the local community. North Tyneside Council site.
http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/enviro-heritage/ris_park/index.shtml
Scots pine 'native' coniferous forests
'The Caledonian Forest' Although we tend to think of the Scottish Highlands as open moorland it was once forested and the woodland resource is ecologically important (45% of the Cairngorm area is heather moorland and 17% is blanket bog). The Cairngorms covers only 8% of Scotland's land mass, yet contains over a quarter of the native woodlands in Scotland.
SOILS: Podsol soil profiles!
The effects of a woodland on microclimate
Land use in Wales Website The University of Wales School of Agriculture and Forest Sciences at Bangor runs this site which includes maps (eg of soil types).
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~afs047/tirwe/home.htm
Mangrove forests: For something more exotic, try Oxfam's case study. There are more than 70 species of mangrove tree. What makes them different from other trees is their ability to live in a salt-water environment.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/atwork/mangrove/mangr1.htm
The Florida Everglades South Florida Information Access for the background and current ecological issues.
http://sofia.usgs.gov/
Plan to resuce the Everglades under the Water Resources Development Act 2000. http://www.evergladesplan.org/
Chesapeake An ecosystem adversely affected by a combination of nutrient enrichment, toxic substances, sediment, and overharvesting of shellfish and finfish. Find out about the USGS activities in the region. http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/
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