Sarah Clarke- Snail diversity and abundance in the intertidal zone.
Sarah selected three transect areas on
the south side of the island to evaluate patterns of snail species
diversity, abundance and biomass. She found that there were three
species present (common periwinkle, smooth periwinkle, and Atlantic
dogwinkle). Common periwinkles were most abundant and represented
the greatest biomass. Overall, biomass and abundance was greatest
in the lower intertidal, but smooth periwinkles were more abundant in
the mid-upper zones where they are found camouflaged in the seaweed (Fucus
and Ascophyllum).
Jesse Haavisto - Hermit crab shell selection preferences
Jesse collected hermit crabs off the Appledore ledges. He then removed crabs from their shells (with a little light toasting) and allowed them to choose from a selection of shells. He found that there was no significant relationship between crab preference and the ratio of weight of shell to shell opening, although some shells were clearly preferred while others were not selected.
Kevin Duby - Green crab dispersal
Kevin's hypothesis was that larger crabs would disperse
farther from a release site than smaller crabs. Kevin collected over 150
green crabs from the leeside of Appledore, marked them by clipping
spines off their carapace and then released them in the "swimming pool"
area of the island. After 24 hours, he then attempted to recapture
the crabs by snorkeling (with lots of help from Jesse). He
attained a 10% recapture rate. Kevin did not find a significant
relationship between size of the crabs and the distance from the release
site. he suggested that the territorial behavior of the crabs may
have influenced his results.
Jenni Pohl - copepod and euphausid shrimp larvae salinity tolerance
Jen, a microbiology major, focused on the zooplankton an
dchose two different taxa (copepods and shrimp larvae) to examine.
Her hypothesis was that these organisms would show greater mortality in
low salinity water. She tested a variety of salinities and found
that copepods did show decreased survival in lower salinities while the
shrimp larvae were not affected.
Liz Webb - sea star foraging behavior
Intrigued by starfish, Liz decided to evaluate whether
sea stars use chemoreception to detect food. She set up a
challenge area where sea stars were allowed to seek a food source
(mussel meat). Her treatments were th direction of current flow
(over the mussel toward the starfish, away from the starfish, or no
flow). She found that, though the starfish did occasionally feed
on the food, there was no relationship between the direction of flow and
their likelihood of using the food supply.
