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Spearman’s rank test

Aim: - to see if whether there is a relationship between the width of the footpath which people are given and the amount of damaged vegetation.

My scatter graph shows a clear negative correlation relationship between the percentages of ground cover to the footpath width.  They are indirectly proportional.

Data analysis

Do tourists cause problems for Oxwich Bay?

Oxwich bay receives around 250,000 visitors per annum.  8000 of those students are dong A-level, GCSE and even degree level coursework (mainly in the summer as this is the peak season).

Industry mainly functions in summer seeing as this is the peak season for when tourists attend the bay.  This is called seasonality.

We visited the bay in April; we also visited the bay during the week.  As it says above the peak season is summer therefore our results would not of represented the usual situation.

Tourists bring advantages and disadvantages when visiting the dunes:

Advantages

·        Tourist bring in a lot of money to bed and breakfast’s, hotels, gift shops, café’s etc.  This is important, as Oxwich Bay is a nature reserve so it cannot be developed or built.

·        Seeing as tourists visit the Bay, the NCC makes sure the place is always tidy.

·        Tourists also bring a lively atmosphere.

Disadvantages

• Seeing as the peak season is summer and the other seasons are dull when in bringing in money, three quarters of the year very little money coming into the area.

• Tourists also cause noise, litter, and air pollution and bring their city attitudes to the area.

Traffic congestion and pollution

The roads at Oxwich Bay were narrow, twisty, have walls leaning into them, have overgrown trees making them narrow and they are hilly.  The roads are in this state because the nature reserve authorities cannot develop or improve the road network.

There were around two coaches and five cars in Oxwich bay. This indicates that there was a little amount of visitors at the Bay.

If the coaches and cars are going in opposite directions they will have to stop in passing places and start off uphill, which is when they are at their most inefficient (and this wasn’t even during peak season).

These cars give out carbon monoxide that suffocates plants by the soot and fumes covering up the stomata and chloroplasts therefore not allowing light to be absorbed which in turn kills the plant because it won’t let it photosynthesise.

Walkers and trampling

Oxwich Bay has a diversity of vegetation and flora such as marram grass, bracken, birch trees, sea spurge etc.

To solve the problem of walkers over these plants the NCC has put down footpaths the walkers will stick to. 

The main problem with the path is that they are too narrow.  To resolve this problem maybe the NCC could create a one-way diversion system. To see if the footpaths work I carried out a Spearman’s rank test to see if tourists stuck to the footpaths given.  I carried out a Spearman’s rank test to see if tourists stuck to the footpaths given

I found there was a strong negative relationship between footpath width and vegetation cover.

This is the opposite of what we expected because we did not collect enough data.  I still think that if given a wider footpath the tourists will stick to it.

Another problem is that they weren’t very clear (the footpaths) i.e. camouflaged in the marram and sand therefore people tend to trample on the marram accidentally etc.  To resolve this problem you could put wood chippings around the footpaths as this is eco friendly and also it fertilises the soil.

I found there was a strong negative relationship between footpath width and vegetation cover.

This is the opposite of what we expected because we did not collect enough data.  I still think that if given a wider footpath the tourists will stick to it.

Litter pollution and footpaths are a few of the things that are left by the tourists.

Blowouts are craters of sand.  They are formed by trampling on marram grass, making the roots loose and come out.  The marram later decomposes and leaves and more sand fill the area without sand in the dune.

Litter

There were some bins but not enough for that particular region even though at the time we went there weren’t that many people as it wasn’t peak season and as it was a weekday.  At peak season would generally not bother and therefore just throw the litter on the floor, as it is so hectic.  This damages the dunes and affects the habitats of smaller creatures.

There was some evidence of litter along the path but not a lot of it.  The animals were harmed by the litter like sharp cans etc.

Animals can be harmed by litter by sharp cans cutting them, crisps packets suffocating them etc.

Litter can affect vegetation by food objects covering up the light, not letting the flora photosynthesise.

Noise pollution

When we went to Oxwich Bay we did not visit at peak season therefore there wasn’t any real evidence of noise pollution.  Seeing as 250000 come to the Bay every year and most of them come at peak season I would be right in saying that noise pollution would definitely increase as it gets nearer to peak season.

This will affect the:

·        Towns people

·        Creatures living at the dunes.

Questionnaire

I don’t think the people we interviewed know that just by walking on the dunes they cause damage to them.

Are tourist numbers a problem in Oxwich Bay?

Most people come to the Bay to go to the beach and to take part in the activities on the sea etc.  It is mainly people who want to study the dunes, like us and the locals who walk their dogs etc.  Most people who visit the Bay tend to stay on the beach area.  Tourists can cause a few problems, which are listed above, things such as litter, noise, pollution and trampling of vegetation.

Limitations

1. It was not peak season therefore there were not that many people therefore we couldn’t carry out the questionnaire properly

2. Didn’t visit enough sites seeing as the Bay is 40² miles therefore our results weren’t accurate.

3. We talked about the features of the roads of Oxwich Bay.  It would of been better if we took photographs or drawings to describe into further depth.

Key Question Three

How Is Oxwich Bay Managed?

Data required primary

• Cost benefit analysis
• Photographs
• Questionnaire

Secondary

·        Student fact sheet

Method

1.       Prior to or visit, we read through our fact sheet and made a list of aims of the Oxwich Bay reserve.  We wrote them in the spaces below

Aims:                 1)    Protect dunes from erosion

2)       Maintain bio-diversity

3)       Manage tourist and allow access to dunes

2.       On our walk around the nature reserve, we identified the different management techniques being used at Oxwich Bay.  We completed the management techniques table to explain how each management scheme worked.

3.       As we received each management technique, we completed a cost benefit analysis and compared the different management techniques.

Data analysis

The NCC is in charge of managing Oxwich Bay.  They are responsible for the ecosystem, the old buildings in the area and the car parks etc.  Their aim is to maintain the bio- diversity of the ecosystem but at the same time enable people to use the sand dunes, this is known as sustainable development. 

The problems in the sand dune habitat are that natural processes such as bracken making the soil more acidic can damage the rare flora and animals in the slacks.  This can only be completely stopped by killing the bracken with chemicals. 

Human beings can also be a problem because they trample on the vegetation, which then dies allowing the sand to blow away causing a blow- out.  These can only be managed by keeping the tourists off the dunes with fences and footpaths or re-planting this marram grass in the fixed dunes.

What are the pros and cons of management?

As you can see from my table there are 7 possible management techniques to decide which one is the best.  I did a cost benefit analysis.  This helps me to take into account all the good things and bad things about the techniques. 

The scheme, which I scored, worse which was the footpaths, which I was surprised by.  The reason it was worst was that footpaths were often ignored.  The benefits are very small because they are expensive to maintain even though they are cheap to install. 

The management scheme that had the least costs was planting marram grass this is because once the marram grass has been planted it will reproduce so therefore it will last a long time. 

The scheme which had the most benefits again was planting marram grass and to an extent the footpaths.  This is because they last for a long time and require little money to maintain.

I personally disagree with these aims because if tourists are free to use the ecosystem they will probably damage it when they are walking.  One management technique is to try and stop succession.   The idea is that if left natural the embryos turn into fixed dunes, the fixed dunes into slacks, and slacks into birch trees.  If this happens we will lose the slacks, which have the biggest diversity of plants and animals of the whole ecosystem, therefore I agree with stopping succession.

Different people have different ideas about sand dunes.  Tourists support any idea, which will not stop them from visiting or using the sand dunes.  These include planting marram grass, footpaths and signs.  Businesses will support anything that makes them money such as fines.  Scientists want the area to be left natural so will support patrols although they may want the slacks maintained in some areas so might agree with succession.

Limitations

1. Draw a map to show where management techniques are.

2. Could of taken photos of management techniques.

3. We visited out of season therefore not seeing all management techniques.

4. Had lack of info about management techniques therefore having hardly having anything for cost benefit analysis

5. Speak to NCC to find out more about management techniques.

Key Question Four

How Would You Manage Oxwich Bay?

Data required primary

• Cost benefit analysis
• Questionnaire
• Conflict matrix table

Secondary

·        Student fact sheet

Method

1.       We recapped on all the management techniques used in the reserve.

2.       We brainstormed all the problems that the reserved faced, as it tried to maintain a wide diversity of species.

3.       We then brainstormed the management techniques that we believed that worked.  We thought about concepts of sustainable development and eco- tourism.

4.       Using our ideas we wrote out a questionnaire to ask people in the village and along the route how they thought about How the problems of managing the reserve could be reserved.  We needed a maximum of ten questions.  We tried to make most of our questions closed, so they are easy to analyse.   After that we recorded our answers in a tally.  We first did this in rough and then collected our results back in the classroom.

5.       Last of all we produced an analysis and more of how we felt about how the area should be managed in the future.  We included our results of our questionnaire in the discussions.  Last of all we produced a ma to go with our discussion.

Human problems and soloutions

·        Trampling is a problem. Fines, signposts, electric fences and normal fences could be a soloution to the problem.

• Litter is a problem.  This can be resolved by a litter picker or by having more bins

• When tourists have money but have nowhere to spend it is another problem.  The obvious solution would be to open an info centre or a tourist shop or more of them.

• Lack of information is a problem.  To solve the problem leaflet, stands and signposts could be put up.

• Not sticking to footpaths is a major problem.  To make people walk on them more could be made, make them more visible and make them wider.

Physical problems and soloutions

• Wind erosion is a physical problem.  By planting more marram grass it can be resolved.

• Blow out.  Resolved by putting more sand in the blow-outs place.  Use signs to tell people not to walk there.

• Heather and bracken.  Bring horses or mow it down to get rid of.

• Scrub and weed.  Again mowing can resolve this problem.

• Sea erosion.  Groins can be put up to resolve this.

Data analysis

The sand dunes are difficult to manage because it has a wide diversity of plants such as sea spurge, sand coach and bracken.  By having bracken the other plants may die as it injects acids into the soil.

Another reason is that lots of people come to the sand dunes.  By this they may trample over the marram, which in turn cause blow-outs.  Also the sea and fierce wind causes a harsh environment for plants to grow in.

Many things would happen if the bay were not managed.  Here are some examples:

·        If the bay wasn’t managed then the dunes will succeed until they reach the climatic climax.

·        The slacks would be lost

·        It would allow succession

·        Cause blow-outs

·        Colonisers would slowly be destroyed by trampling

·        Stop a wide diversity of plants.

The process of succession is as follows:

Embryo dunes               fixed dunes             slacks                   forest.  The reason why the NCC want to stop succession so that they don’t lose the slacks as these hold a wide diversity of organisms therefore if allowing succession a lot of money will be lost out on as this is one of the main features of the Bay which people come to visit.

I agree with stopping succession.  By stopping succession wide diversity of plants can be allowed to blossom whereas letting succession prevail, birch trees would dominate and kill of all the other plants and take over.

The way that I would do this is by weeding the bracken.  This way of stopping succession doesn’t harm the ecosystem whereas using chemicals does.

The reason I would do this is to maintain the wide diversity of plants and animals.  Also more tourists will visit therefore more money will be coming in.

Biodiversity means that how many different species of plants there are in a certain amount of area.  Biodiversity is very important to maintain in my opinion so that a wide range of animals can live there.  If it weren’t managed the amount of animal species would decrease.

Oxwich Bay has a large number of ways to maintain the biodiversity such as using signs, fences, patrol guards etc.  Again I do think it’s important to maintain the biodiversity in Oxwich bay as ti holds a wide diversity of organisms.