Ecological survey of the Lime Cay Essay Example for Free

Ecological survey of the Lime Cay EssayLime Cay, the man islet of the fashion Royal Cays, located 17 degrees north and 76 degrees west, is one of the many cays in Jamaica. By definition, a cay is a small low elevated sandy island formed on the surface of a coral reef. These types of islands are usually found in the Caribbean Sea, Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean. Also they are circular in shape. A cay is home to many different species due to the formation of habitats such as the rough shore habitat. A cay is formed when the current of the ocean transport lose sediments crossways the surface of a reef to a depositional node, which is where two currents converge and the sediment load is released.Layers of deposited sediment step by step build up on the reef surface resulting in a low island forming on this reef. Cays add a variety of habitats ranging from marine to terrestrial. Hence, Cays are important protectors of the biodiversity of our planet. Cays provide several habi tats for its organisms such as rocky shores, sea grass beds, sand bed, coral beds and inner terrestrial land. Prominent organisms that occupy the marine and the coastal habitats include echinoderms, crabs, fishes etc. The terrestrial portion of Cay is usually dominated by various mangrove species.MethodA trip was made to Lime Cay to carry out a omnibus(prenominal) ecological study of Lime Cay. It was done in 4 parts Project 1 The impingement of Man on the Environment Persons walked along the cay and waded in the water to find evidence of the charge of man to determine the ways in which he affects the habitat. Evidence of the presence of animals was also investigated and a manageable food web was made based on the animals (or evidence of animals) that were observed.Project 2 Echinoderm DistributionA group of 8 swimmers went into the surrounding sea of the cay with snorkelling gear in order to observe the abundance and distribution of echinoderms in habitats where they were likel y to be found. A quadrant was randomly thrown 5 measure in each of the different sea habitats. These included the sea grass, sea sand and the rocky habitats. The act of echinoderms in the quadrant for each throw in each habitat was recorded in a table.Project 3 Mangrove DistributionPersons walked around the cay and into the mangrove, and identified the different mangrove types, do note of the characteristics of each plant, as well as the ambient conditions and how they could affect the distribution of the mangroves.Project 4 Rocky Shore StudyA suitable area of the rocky shore was investigated and notes were made on how conditions in this area varied (in terms of temperature and salinity) and how organisms were adapted to live in this environment.