Sand Dune Succession

Stage Points to consider
AIM What is the aim of the study?
What are you trying to find out?
What was the underpinning theory?
HYPOTHESES What hypotheses can be tested?
Which variable can be correlated against each other or in relation to
some other variable such as distance downsteam or distance from
CBD etc.
DATA COLLECTION What methods can be used to collect data for each of your
hypotheses?
Why were they the best?
What equipment will be required to carry out the investigation?
What were the risks associated, and how do you respond to them?
DATA PRESENTATION What method(s) would be suitable to test relationships between the
variables being tested?
Why is this method suitable?
Illustrate this technique.
DATA ANALYSIS What method(s) could be applied to analyse the data?
Is there any correlation between the variables?
What are the advantages of using this method?
RESULTS What did you learn?
Were there any anomalous results?
What/how did it contribute to your understanding?
IMPROVEMENTS What could you do to improve it?

Underlying Theory
Ecosystems in the British Isles over time
Succession and climatic climax; illustrated by one of lithosere,
psammosere, hydosere or halosere.
The effects of human activity on succession – illustrated by one
plagioclimax such as heather or moorland.

Underlying Theory
Psammosere
Succession
Sere / seral stage
Pioneer species and their adaptations
Dominant species and their adaptations
Secondary species
Climatic climax community
Plagioclimax community

• Psammosere
• Succession
• Sere / seral stage
• Pioneer species and their
adaptations
• Dominant species and their
adaptations
• Secondary species
• Climatic climax community
• Plagioclimax community
Key Terms
• Highly specific plants
• Controlled by abiotic factors
• Controlled by biotic factors
• Halophytic
• Xerophytic
• Hydrophytic
• Species diversity

Seral Stage Species Type Conditions / Adaptations
Stand line / beach
Embryo Dune
Yellow Dune
Dune Slack
Grey Dune
Climax Community
Plagioclimax community

What is a
succession?
The natural change in the structure and
species composition of a community over time
Primary Succession
A vegetation succession that takes place on a
surface where no soil or vegetation has formerly
existed.
Starting from nothing e.g. new rock from a volcano
Secondary Succession
A vegetation succession which develops on land
which has previously been vegetated.
Like turning the clock back. Seeds and soil present;
e.g. forest fire

What types of
succession are there?
Lithosere
Halosere
Psammosere
Hydrosere

PLAGIOCLIMAX – Where the process of succession
has been halted or deflected. Such as on moorland
by burning, grazing or cutting.
CLIMAX COMMUNITY
A vegetation community that is
in balance with the
environmental conditions of an
area (soil and climate).

A SERE is a sequence of plant communities at a particular site.
A sere is comprised of different communities or seral stages
Yellow
Dunes Grey
Dunes
A seral stage is …………………………………….
Embryo
Dunes
The stable terminal stage in a sere is called the CLIMAX COMMUNITY
Sea
Climax

Location of Important Sand
Dune complexes
Formby Point
Studland
Southerness
Farne
Islands
St Ives Bay
Gower
Peninsula
Spurn
North and
South Uist Fraserburgh
Bay
Aberffraw,
Anglesey
Gibraltar
Point
Location of Important
Sand Dune
Complexes

Factors required for dunes formation:
Wide sandy beach Onshore winds
An Obstacle
Plentiful sediment supply
Sheltered Bay
(protection from storms)

Seral Stage Embryo Dune Yellow Dune Dune Slack Grey Dune Climax Community
Conditions
Stages of a Sand Dune Succession
Sea
• Harsh,
fluctuating –
no soil, dry,
no nutrients
• Much bare
ground
Distance inland increases (going back in time)
• Stable, well-developed
soils, retaining
water
• Mostly plant
covered
• Free
draining
substrate
(arid), low
nutrients, little
substrate
• Dune
temporarily
fixed by plants
establishing
• Close to
water table
– wet
conditions
• Slightly
saline soil
water
• Simple soil
starts to
form –
some
nutrients,
organic
matter,
more
sheltered
Species PIONEERS
Sea Rocket
Lyme Grass
Marram Grass
Reeds, Iris,
Willow
Hawkbit,
Coltsfoot,
Gorse,
Brambles
Silver Birch,
Oak
Increasingly
favourable
conditions

Title: Succession in Ecosystems
Aim:
To investigate whether all sand dune successions exhibit similar
‘textbook’ characteristics of vegetation change.
Research Question 1:
How does vegetation change inland across the South Sands sand dune
complex?
Research Question 2:
What factors affect the vegetation change seen?

Location
South Sands Sand Dune Complex - Bridlington
Two km south of Bridlington on the East coast of England
1 km in the length and 50 metres wide.
See pictures of next slide
Investigation took place in October

Justification for Site / Location Selection 1
Link to underpinning theory
Link to aims and research questions
Link to time constraints and access
Link to hazards and risk assessment
Link to human impact

This question needs to be answered using at least two different focuses.
Relationship to underlying theory and overall aim of your investigation
If you have to answer this question. Please, please,
please do not just keep writing about how safe it is,
near to pupil transport etc etc …………
You must also relate it to the underlying theory and overall aim of the
investigation
Thank You

Allows the overall aim of the fieldwork to be investigated and can be compared
to underlying theory.
Small enough to be investigated in the time allocated – make sure you mention
depth of the sand dune (50 meters). This is critical as you are investigated the
changes in succession. Therefore, your transect can be completed in the time
allocated.
Easy accessible by either public or private transport, also public right of way so
permission does not have to ask for prior to the investigation.
Near to car park. Therefore, not far to walk, this is important if the weather is
cold(hypothermia) and if any accidents occur the injured person can easily
accessed by the emergency services.
Shows evidence of stress from human impact.

Risk Assessment
Hazard = The physical problem that cannot be removed – weather, slope, sea
Risk = The likelihood of it happening and the extent of the consequence.
Then what you do to reduce the consequence.

Location : South sands Sand Dune Complex Bridlington Date…………………………….
Hazard Risk
(Low,Medium,High) Control Measure
Likelihood of risk Impact of risk if it
occurred
Sea and tides
weather
Dog poo kfhkdhfkjhdkfhkdshfkhdkf
litter
Steep lopes

Method of Data Collection 1
Method of data collection includes both sampling method and the actual
physical process of collecting your data – species type and number or soil
moisture.

Break of slope transect
Systematic Interrupted belt transect
Quadrat 50 by 50 cm
Do you know what data you collected with the break of slope transect
Do you know what data you collected with the systematic interrupted belt
transect
Can you justify why you used these methods of sampling

Transect : Break of slope
Data 1: angle of slope and distance from beach inland
Equipment: 30 meter tape measure, gun clinometer, recording sheet
Can you describe how you collected this data
Can you explain why the data obtained might have been flawed
Can you explain how you could have made the results obtained more reliable

Transect : Systematic belt (4 metres) using a quadrat (50cm by 50cm)
Data 1: Type of species
Data 2: Height of vegetation
Data 3: Percentage of vegetation cover
Data 4: Number of species
Data 5: Soil penetration.
Data 6: Ph
Data 7: Soil Moisture
Data 8: Organic content of soil

Justification of Method of Data Collection 1
Remember that method includes both:
sampling method e.g. random, systematic or stratified
and
the way that you collect your data e.g. quadrat, number of samples, the actual
way you collected the data. (types of species or Ph)
When answering this question choose an example that you can write about in
detail. So always mention sampling method and then link to type of data

Justification of Method of Data Collection 2
Why: helps to investigate the aim and the research questions
Why: provides quanative data to analyse
Why: every 4 meters - reduce the chance of missing any sudden changes in
vegetation or other factors along the transect / sand dune succession
Why: 50cm by 50cm quadrat - minimum size to provide a representative sample
of the total parent population
Why: 14 quadrats (data set) is large enough to allow a reliable spearman's
correlation to be obtained

Technique Why used/ purpose Method:
when/where
Justification of
sampling type
Problems/
limitations
Improvements Methods to be used
for analysis
River surveys
Land-use survey
Field sketches
Photographs
Questionnaire
Technique Why used/ purpose Method:
when/where
Justification of
sampling type
Problems/
limitations
Improvements Methods to be used
for analysis
Government
statistics
Local area plan
Local newspaper
Websites

Technique Evaluation
Variable Sources of Error in the Technique Possible
improvements
Soil
Moisture
May not have inserted the meter probe
into the ground an equal amount each
time.
% Cover of
Vegetation /
bare ground
Soil
Penetration
Use a metre rule to judge
exactly how far the
skewer is being dropped
each time.

Link to aim
Link to analysis
Link to conclusion
Data Presentation 1

Data Presentation 2
Photographs to show location, seral stage and human influence.
Cross section of sand dune complex to show slope angle and height of seral
stage.
Kite Diagrams to show dominate species and changes between seral stages.
Located bar charts or line graphs to show; vegetation cover, species number,
PH, soil penetration, soil moisture, organic content.
Scatter graphs: To show relationship between different factors.

Data Presentation and Justification
stage.

Links Between Presentation – Aims and Analysis
stage.

Drawing the dune profile
Section
Length
(m)
2 1.6 3.4 3.2 4.8 3.0 6.0 Total
length
24m
Angle
(degrees)
10 17 15 -14 3 20 25
Need to fit the profile onto your paper:
1) Add up the section length to work out the total length
2) Your paper is only 18cm wide so we need to scale down
the measurements if your profile is more than 18m long
3) For a scale of 1:200 divide section length by 2 to give you
the length in cm to draw on your paper, for 1:250 divide
section length by 2.5 etc…
4) The angle remains the same

Beach
Dune
top
Start here
• Represents a slice through the dune showing the changing terrain.

50 %
0 %
50 %
50 %
0 %
50 %

Data Analysis 1
Scattergraphs and line of best fit
Spearman's rank
Describe and explain the vegetation changes
Describe and explain the factors that control the vegetation changes
Link to aim and / or research question

Scattergraphs
List data on independent and dependant axis
Only becomes analysis if you add a line of best fit.
Line of best fit calculated by finding the mean of the data set on the x and y axis
Line of best fit follows the main trend of the data and passes through the point
fixed from the two means have calculated.
Graph show the relationship between the two data sets.
May indicate whether further investigation is needed e.g. Spearman's Rank

Spearman's Rank
This is used to show the correlation between two data sets
It also shows the strength of the relationship.
+1 = perfect positive
0 = random
-1 = perfect negative
The test does not on it own show if this relationship is statistically significant.
You need to use the significant tables to find the statistically significant between
the two data sets
The greater the number of data sets used the more reliable your result

You should analyse your data and link the results to your overall aim and
research question.
Spearman's Rank
Data Analysis 2

Conclusion
Your conclusion should draw together your results and relate them directly back
to the overall aim.
It should suggest how your results indicate that the South Sands sand dune
complex do show characteristics of a typical sand dune succession.
It should suggest how your results indicate that the South Sands sand dune
complex do not show characteristics of a typical sand dune succession.
It should then go on to suggest what underlying factors controlled whether the
South Sands sand dune complex followed a typical sand dune succession.
It should also say how your knowledge and understanding of the underlying
theory has developed.

Evaluation
 Evaluate the success of
The area of study
The data collection techniques and reliability of data collected
The reliability of your results
The reliability of your conclusion
• Suggest other avenues of enquiry to increase the reliability of your conclusion
• Evaluate the overall strengths and weakness of your fieldwork investigation.
You could do a SWOT table, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Same data – at the same site
Same data - at same location different times of year and past data.
Secondary data same site– at a different location and compare
Extra data – same site on vegetation change and factors
Secondary data from other sand dune complexes
Actual data collection methods
Evaluation

Evaluation
Collect more data from the same site – sites closer together along transect .
Compare your data with other transects completed by other groups of students.
Collect more data from the same site – at different time of the year.
Compare to secondary data from data collected in previous years
Compare to secondary data from other sand dune complexes
Collect extra data to explain the success changes you have observed.

Use of ICT
Question may ask you how ICT can aid the following
Site –data collection – presentation – analysis - conclusion and evaluation
Multi map
Google earth – maps and pictures
Data logger and GPS
Excel – spread sheet – graphs – statistical calculations – work out or check
The questions may also ask you to justify why you used these ICT techniques

AS Starting point Methods Skills Interpretation Conclusions/Evaluation
1 Outline the aim and describe
the theory, idea or concept
from which your aim was
derived
Outline and justify one
method of data collection that
you used
Describe one method used to
present your data
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of the analysis
technique(s) that you used?
How far did your fieldwork
conclusions match the
geographical theory, concept
or idea on which your study
was based
2 Explain the geographical
concept, process or theory that
underpinned your enquiry
Examine the limitations of
your chosen methodology
Describe one application of ICT
skills in carrying out your
fieldwork and comment on its
usefulness
Outline and justify the use of
one or more techniques used
to statistically analyse your
results
Summarise your findings and
suggest how this enquiry could
be improved
3 Outline one source of
information that you used and
assess the extent to which it
was “fit for purpose”
Outline one hypothesis and
describe one methodology for
primary data collection in
relation to this
Describe and illustrate one
technique you used to present
data in this enquiry
Name one technique of data
analysis and describe how it
was used
Making specific reference to
your results, suggest how your
enquiry could be improved
4 Explain how you devised your
aim and how you responded
to the risks associated with
your chosen site for fieldwork
How did you respond to risks
associated with undertaking
primary data collection
What difficulties did you face
when presenting your results?
What is meant by the term
‘significance’ in the analysis
of fieldwork data?
In what ways would your
conclusions be of use to other
people?
5 Describe the location of your
fieldwork and explain why it
was suitable for your
investigation
Discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the method of
data collection
Describe a method of
presentation that you used in
your investigation and indicate
how the chosen method was
useful
In the context of the analysis
of fieldwork data, outline the
meaning of ‘anomalies’.
Drawing upon your findings,
explain how your enquiry
improved your understanding
of the topic area

A2 Starting point Methods Skills Interpretation Conclusions/Evaluation
1 In the light of your
aim why was the
location selected?
Describe and justify
the risk assessments
that you did
Data presentation
skills – why selected
and what were the
strengths and
weaknesses?
How and why were
the techniques of
interpretation useful
in developing
understanding?
Evaluate the success
of the investigation in
the light of the aim.
2 Why was/were the
aim/ hypothesis/es
chosen?
Justify the methods
used to collect data
Data presentation;
evaluate the
alternatives
How did the aim/data
influence the skills of
interpretation used?
What did you learn
from this study –
geographical
understanding?
3 How important was
the theory in the
choice of aim?
Explain how and why
data was selected for
the investigation
What skills were used
to present the data and
why were they useful?
Interpret the results
in the light of the aim
– how was
understanding
broadened/contribute
d to?
How did theory
influence your
evaluation of this
investigation?
4 How important was
location in the
choice of aim?
How was data
selected; what
improvements would
you make?
How did the aim
influence presentation
methods?
How did the results
influence
interpretation?
How can your
investigation be
further developed and
extended?
5 How important was
theory in the choice
of location?
Explain the importance
of sampling to your
investigation
How did results
influence presentation
skills?
How important were
anomalies in the
interpretation of the
data collected?
In what ways would
your conclusions be
of use to other
geographers?

At A2 you are required to undertake
investigative work in the field. This allows
you to develop skills associated with
planning investigations, collection of
primary and secondary data, and
presentation, interpretation and evaluation
of results. You are required to sit either
Unit 4A – an examination consisting of
structured and extended questions based
on your own fieldwork investigation (1½
hours) - or Unit 4B – an examination of
structured and extended questions,
including research based skills questions,
based on an Advance Information booklet,
which is pre-released (1½ hours). Both
papers carry 60 marks.

Evaluation.
Evaluation of the whole study (part of the Conclusions)
• Was the study affected by external factors?
e.g. Choice of site? Recent weather conditions?
• Were there any limitations on the study?
e.g. Time? Number of sites? Size of samples?
Variables not considered?
• How certain can we be of our findings?
e.g. What significance level did we choose?
Is there a causal relationship?
• What ideas do you have for further work arising from your study?
e.g. A new avenue of enquiry? A different site? More data?
• What would you do to improve the enquiry?

Sand Dune Succession
Possible questions/issues/problems to investigate.
• Do plant communities change in a systematic way across the dunes?
• Do soil characteristics change in a systematic way across the dunes?
• What factors control the distribution of plants at South Sands?
• What is the relationship between plant cover and distance from the
beach?
• What effects have human activities had upon the dune system?
• Is it possible to distinguish seral stages on the dunes at South Sands?
• What is the link between soil moisture, organic content and pH?
• What links are there between soil factors and plant distribution?
• Does the succession of plants at South Sands conform to classic models
of sand dune succession?

Jan 2009 Questions GEO2
Explain the geographical concept, process or theory that underpinned your
fieldwork enquiry. (4)
How did you respond to risks associated with undertaking your primary data
collection? (4)
Outline and justify one method of data collection that you used in your enquiry.
(6)
With the aid of a sketch diagram, describe one technique that you used to
present data in your enquiry. (6)
Making specific reference to your results, suggest how your enquiry could be
improved. (5)

June 2009 Questions GEO2
• Describe the location of your fieldwork and outline why this was a suitable
site for your investigation. (4)
• State one hypothesis or research question or issue for evaluation that you
have investigated in 2a. Describe one method of primary data collection
used in the investigation. (5)
• Discuss the limitations of your chosen method in 2a. (6)
• Outline and justify the use of one or more techniques used to analyse your
results. (5)
• Drawing upon your findings, explain how your enquiry improved your
understanding of the topic. (5)

Jan 2010 Questions GEO2
• Describe the location of your fieldwork and outline why this was a suitable
site for your investigation. (4)
• State one hypothesis or research question or issue for evaluation that you
have investigated in 2a. Describe one method of primary data collection
used in the investigation. (5)
• Discuss the limitations of your chosen method in 2a. (6)
• Outline and justify the use of one or more techniques used to analyse your
results. (5)
• Drawing upon your findings, explain how your enquiry improved your
understanding of the topic. (5)

Questions GEO2
• Explain the geographical concept, process
or theory that underpinned your fieldwork
enquiry. (Jan 2009)(4)
• Describe the location of your fieldwork and
outline why this was a suitable site for
your investigation. (June 2009) (4)

Questions (4A)
• State the aim(s) of your investigation (0)
• Explain the reasons why you selected this
aim for investigation. (June 2010)(10)
• Describe the location of your fieldwork
investigation and explain its relevance to
the aim(s).

Why choose this site?
• Not too far to travel
• Site is easily accessible
• Manageable size of sand dunes for half
day study
• Can compare to geographical theory
• Shows evidence of stress from coastal
development

Sand Dune Succession

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