1. Characterisation of the rocky shore community
This involves:
1. The carrying out of an inventory of the macrophytic vegetation within the boundaries of the area of study. That is identifying which species are present.
2. The construction of a transect extending from the shoreline to the upper shore. The transect line should be perpendicular to the shoreline.
3. The positioning of a quadrat square on the transect line at intervals of 5 metres. At each such point, the identification the species present within the perimeter of the quadrat and the recording the number of quadrants that the species occupies.This procedure is repeated until the upper shore area is reached.
4. The information obtained from this procedure is used to determine which species are likely to play a significant ecological role in this community. These species shall be used for detailed investigation of niche breadth and niche overlap. >>next
