Waties Island Homework PDF

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MSCI 112L Waties Island Field Trip BACKGROUND INFORMATION Waties Island is a 2 ½ mile, undeveloped barrier island located on the northeast coast of South Carolina, just above Cherry Grove beach. Students and faculty at Coastal Carolina University regularly use a portion of the Island owned by the Coastal Education Foundation, a private, non-profit support component of CCU. Classes, laboratories and independent research projects are conducted on both the Island by both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff. In addition, field workshops for precollege classes (K-12) and adult groups are led by a marine science educator of CMWS. This Island is an outstanding example of an undeveloped complex of ocean frontage, fresh and saltwater marshes, tidal creeks, and upland woods. Surrounded by a rapidly urbanizing environment, it is becoming increasingly significant for research, monitoring and education about the natural coastal habitat. Property Donation It was the wish of Anne Tilghman Boyce that the property she left to the Coastal Educational Foundation be maintained "in essentially a wilderness state". Per her wish, in 1995, a total of 1,105 acres on Waties Island and the adjoining uplands of Little River Neck were deeded to the Coastal Educational Foundation. The gift has been protected with a perpetual conservation easement through The Nature Conservancy of South Carolina. Through Mrs. Boyce’s bequest and the support of her children, Coastal Carolina University has gained a magnificent addition to the facilities it can offer to students and faculty for education and research. In addition to the gift from the Anne T. Boyce family, a substantial financial gift was made to the Foundation by her sister-in-law, Kitty Lou Tilghman. Subsequently, an adjacent 4.65 acre tract located along Little River was donated to the Foundation by Rebecca Randall Bryan and a 49.92 acre tract was donated by Horry County, bringing the total acreage to 1,105.17 acres.

Barrier Island Structure Barrier islands, Waties Island included, are long parallel stretches of sand separated from the mainland by some sort of salt water environment. In the case of Waties Island, there are tidal creeks from the Little River Inlet to the north and Hog Inlet to the south that separate the island from the mainland. Typically, when one walks from the mainland, he/she will encounter the following environments in order: mainland, marsh (with tidal creeks running throughout), barrier flat, dunes, beach, and ocean. The vegetation varies with respect to salt water incursion, from salt marsh grasses in the calm saltwater marshes, to pine forests in the barrier flat, to dune grasses near the beach face.

Waties Island Homework Assignment (4 points) 1. Using the data sheet below, calculate the density of salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina) using the formulas provided. Also, calculate the primary productivity (amount of carbon produced per square meter, per year) of the cordgrass per m2/yr. How does the primary productivity of the marsh system compare with other ocean systems? Formulas: Density of Spartina (#/m2) = Average # Spartina counted x 4 Primary Production of Spartina (g C m-2 yr-1) = density of Spartina (# m2) x 37 g C yr-1 per plant

Location

High Marsh

Low Marsh

Trial#

# counted in 0.25 m2 quadrat

1

9

2

11

3

14

1

29

2

24

3

21

Average

Density Average x 4 (to get #/m2)

Production Density x 37 To get (g C m-2 yr-1)

11.33

45.33

1,677.33

24.67

98.67

3,650.67

Table of Primary Productivity for Differing Ocean Systems Systems

Primary Productivity

Coral Reef...................................................880-2200 Kelp bed......................................................400-1900 Shelf Plankton.................................................90-270 Open Ocean......................................................1-180

2. After watching the video, explain the differences between the low and high marsh (include sediment type, salinity, flora and fauna). Explain why you see a difference between the low and high marsh. There is a difference because the high marsh isn’t seeing as much contact from seawater because the tides do not reach it. That is why there are different types of plants and animals because the tides aren’t affecting the conditions. High Marsh Observations: Sediment type: Fine grained, darker color, sandy,

Salinity: lower salinity conditions

Flora: juniper trees, spartina, sea oxeye, virginia glasswort,

Fauna: Ribbed Mussels, periwinkle snails

Low Marsh Observations: Sediment type: not a lot of oxygen, mud, lighter in color, more watery

Salinity: Higher salinity conditions

Flora: needlerush, spartina

Fauna: fiddler crabs, periwinkle snail, blue crabs,...