Habitat Identification Chart

Combine your groups Quadrat sampling sheets to have a complete view of each habitat. Put an X in your charts for each person who identified that species in that habitat. If everyone saw a particular species in a habitat in his or her quadrat you will have XXXXX. The number of marks in each correlating square will indicate how many in your group identified a species in that habitat.

Afterwards, decide if each organism is a producer or a consumer. Which might be a predator to another species? Which might be prey? Which herbivore eats which plants?

Questions:
1) In which habitat did you find the smallest number of different plant and animal species?
-Beach, most likely

2) According to your quadrant samplings, what was the most common plant or animal you viewed?
-Answers will vary

3) What are some factors that might have affected the species, numbers and location of your observations? (Hint: what time of day was it, what was the temperature at that time, etc.)
-If students visited on a very hot day, they may have seen fewer animals. The sand in the dunes and on the beach can get VERY hot, and animals will avoid walking upon it if at all possible. If the day was very cold, there also may have been few animals seen.

4) What natural element (abiotic factor) affects each habitat the most? (Circle one)

5) How do the abiotic factors (natural elements) affect each Habitat?
Salt Marsh: Plants and animals that live in the Salt Marsh must be able to handle the ever-changing water level of the tide. There is a lot of heat and sun to deal with as well.

Maritime Forest: In the Maritime Forest, wind and the salt spray it carries in from the ocean is an ever-present danger. Plants that live in this area must compete for sunlight. Some plants grow tall very quickly, others grow evergreen leaves that collect sunlight all year long.

Sand Dunes: The Sand Dunes are much like a desert near the ocean. Heat is one of the main factors animals and plants here have to deal with. Plants that grow there must be flexible enough to blow in the wind without breaking. Plants must also be able to tolerate salt spray, or their growth will be stunted. Animals that live in the Dunes must be able to tolerate a lack of water.

Beach: In the Beach area, there is constantly changing water levels, salt spray and wind. Plants (other than microscopic diatoms) do not live in the intertidal zone. Many of the animals that live there are burrow into the sand: this burrowing allows them to escape predators while remaining wet.

6) Describe the relationships between the following plants and animals (i.e. are they competitors, predator/prey or symbionts?)
• Slash Pine and Live Oak competitors for sunlight and water resources
• Live Oak and Spanish Moss symbionts, Spanish Moss benefits, Live Oak is unaffected
• Raccoon and Fiddler crab Predator/Prey

7) Why are there no decomposers listed in the Quadrant analysis? Does this mean that they are not important members of the BarrierIsland community? List an example of a decomposer that you might find on a Barrier Island?
-Decomposers are generally small and difficult to see. The main decomposers on a Barrier Island are bacteria and fungi. Bacteria are microscopic and it is not possible to see them with only your eyes. Fungi are visible without a microscope, but are not seen because they grow in damp, dark places or because mushrooms often last a very short amount of time. Decomposers are especially important in the salt marsh habitat where the decompose spartina grass into detritus, the base of the food chain for that habitat.

8) Which animals listed on the quadrat sheet did you NOT see? Did you see any evidence of these animals (tracks, food or wastes?) For these animals, list a reason (adaptation) that would explain why you did not observe them.
- Students probably did not see a raccoon, an alligator, a white-tailed Deer and a Ghost crab. Raccoons are primarily nocturnal, seeking food during the night. Students probably saw raccoon tracks and/or scat. Alligators typically inhabit freshwater, so it is likely that students did not see one of these creatures. White-tailed Deer are more active at night, and tend to stay in the maritime forest. Students may have seen their hoof marks in the sand. Ghost crabs are usually more active at night, for at night they are more safe from predators. These crabs are seen filling their “water tanks” at the edge of the ocean during the night. Ghost crab holes and tracks are commonly seen in the dunes.

9) Pick three plant or animal species that can be found in more then one habitat and explain what natural conditions or life threat they may have adapted to in order to be able to live in these particular habitats? What natural conditions or life threats might explain their absence from a particular habitat.
- Example: Yaupon Holly is found in the sand dunes, maritime forest and salt marsh. In the sand dunes, where there is a large amount of salt spray, the holly is small. In the salt marsh, the holly is larger than it is in the dunes, but not nearly as large as it can get in the forest. Yaupon Holly would not survive on the Beach because there is too much salt spray.

10) What did you observe while at Hunting Island State Park that gave you clear indications that erosion forces were taking place?
-Examples: trees lying on the beach, roots exposed, Maritime Forest along the beach

11) In your estimation and understanding of the erosion forces affecting the island, what area is losing the most sand or Beach area the fastest? (Circle one and then explain your answer)

Why? -Any answers are acceptable, as long as the students explain their reasons.
Typically it is thought that the middle of the island is losing sand the fastest, as this area’s sand is eroded and re-deposited at the north and south ends of the island.

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