The Ecosystems in estuaries and sea coasts systems

Internship Report from the year 2004 in the subject Biology - Ecology, grade: 1,7, University of Stirling, 1 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The students from the Department of Biology Sciences (Marine Biology course) undertook an excursion to the Forth Estuary 'Torry Bay' on 08thMarch, 2004. The students collected different samples from three investigation locations (Sandier flats, Mud flats and Torry Burn). On 22ndMarch, 2004 the collected samples of the excursion were examined at the laboratory of the University of Stirling. Samples were collected by the water surface 'puddles', sediment water and sediment cores for later examinations in lab. The salinity was determined by the water surface and by the sediment water sample in place. In addition lugworm casts counted in square (1 m x 1m). The collected samples were analyzed in the lab; two weeks later about to estimate the ecosystem in estuaries and sea coasts, i.e. which roll they play in the flow of energy through the ecosystem and to determine in outline the distribution of organisms in relation to the environmental features. At last the GPS data was recorded to hold the geographical location were the samples were taken. The area under investigation 'The Firth of Forth' is located on the east coast of central Scotland. It is a complex estuarine site, stretching for over 100 km from the River Forth at Stirling eastwards past Edinburgh and along the coasts of Fife and East Lothian to a wide estuary mouth. A wide range of coastal and intertidal habitats is found within the site. Extensive mud-flats occur particularly in the Inner Firth, notably at Kinneil Kerse and Skinflats on the south shore and Torry Bay on the north shore. Typically, the flats support a rich invertebrate fauna, with EelgrassZosteraspp. growing on the main mud-flats, both features providing important food sources for the large numbers of migrating and wintering water birds that depend on the estuary. The Firth is of major importance for a rich assemblage of water birds in the migration periods and through the winter.