Ireland Day I
This September I went on a Field Ecology course to Inch, South West Ireland.
The landscape was absolutely incredible! From rocky beaches, to dune systems and estuarine habitats all the way up to rolling hills and mountain peaks. My free time was filled with exploring these wonderful places.
The course was based around the differences in landscape as found in Norwich, and how these differences relate to differences in habitat structure and therefore surrounding animal and plant life. The first week we spent a day at each habitat exploring the physical and biological processes at play, and had a go developing scientific questions of interest based on interactions we saw or expected to see.
Day 1: Woodland
My first day was in the woodlands of Killarney National Park. Here, due to geological processes and shifts in plate tectonics, the land is composed of interchanging bands of limestone and sandstone rock. Limestone is alkaline and so Yew, which likes this environment, dominates the landscape. In areas of sandstone (which is acidic) Oak dominates.
Because of the changes in soil, there are a lot of different habitats that are created and so a lot of differences in plants and animals found in the different areas.
One such species of spider, the raft spider, is so rare it is protected in this park. We were lucky enough to see a female guarding a large clutch of young!
Our lunch spot was absolutely stunning.
We scanned the skies for the elusive fish eagle and absorbed the amazing sunny rays - very lucky for a day in southern Ireland!
A few questions we mulled over:
1. Are there statistically significant differences in the species found in the Oak woodland as compared to Yew?
2. Does grazing by deer have a negative effect of species diversity found across the National Park?
3. Do invasive species such as rhododendron lead to a reduction in native species?
We thought about ways in which we could collect robust data to answer these questions, inbetween spotting red squirrels and practising our identification skills using field guides.
It was a fantastic 1st day and we looked forward to the next!
Regards,
Elleni - East African Student Ambassador
The landscape was absolutely incredible! From rocky beaches, to dune systems and estuarine habitats all the way up to rolling hills and mountain peaks. My free time was filled with exploring these wonderful places.
The course was based around the differences in landscape as found in Norwich, and how these differences relate to differences in habitat structure and therefore surrounding animal and plant life. The first week we spent a day at each habitat exploring the physical and biological processes at play, and had a go developing scientific questions of interest based on interactions we saw or expected to see.
Day 1: Woodland
My first day was in the woodlands of Killarney National Park. Here, due to geological processes and shifts in plate tectonics, the land is composed of interchanging bands of limestone and sandstone rock. Limestone is alkaline and so Yew, which likes this environment, dominates the landscape. In areas of sandstone (which is acidic) Oak dominates.
Because of the changes in soil, there are a lot of different habitats that are created and so a lot of differences in plants and animals found in the different areas.
One such species of spider, the raft spider, is so rare it is protected in this park. We were lucky enough to see a female guarding a large clutch of young!
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| Dolomedes fimbriatus |
Our lunch spot was absolutely stunning.
We scanned the skies for the elusive fish eagle and absorbed the amazing sunny rays - very lucky for a day in southern Ireland!
A few questions we mulled over:
1. Are there statistically significant differences in the species found in the Oak woodland as compared to Yew?
2. Does grazing by deer have a negative effect of species diversity found across the National Park?
3. Do invasive species such as rhododendron lead to a reduction in native species?
We thought about ways in which we could collect robust data to answer these questions, inbetween spotting red squirrels and practising our identification skills using field guides.
It was a fantastic 1st day and we looked forward to the next!
Regards,
Elleni - East African Student Ambassador
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