A Citizen Science Program for the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
Abstract
The purpose of this Masters Project is to implement an intertidal monitoring program
that emphasizes Citizen Science for the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS).
CACS is a small non-profit organization based out of Homer, Alaska. The organization
conducts tidepool tours to the public in a section of Kachemak Bay known as China
Poot Bay. With the ecological importance of the intertidal zone and the environmental
changes that have occurred in Kachemak Bay, it is important to study the abundance
of intertidal organisms and how this abundance changes over time.
A list of species to be monitored in China Poot Bay was selected based on one or more
of the following: 1) how easy they are to identify, 2) their importance to the intertidal
community, 3) their sensitivity to disturbances, 4) if they represent a trophic level,
and 5) if they are harvested species. A 30 meter transect was set up perpendicular
to the beach at China Poot Bay and was divided into three equal sections all measuring
10 meters. The selected species were counted in each of the three sections using 0.5
x 0.5 meter quadrats. Sessile organisms (such as mussels and barnacles) were counted
using percentages of the quadrat, while mobile organisms (such as sea stars and crabs)
were counted by actual counts. The numbers were then recorded on a data sheet.
The testing of the monitoring program occurred from June to August of 2008. While
the data was preliminary there were several recommendations made on creating a successful
implementation of the program. These included: 1) setting up a transect that encompasses
the entire vertical length of the beach, 2) only conducting one quadrat measurements
per section of transect, 3) setting up multiple transects to be used in data collection,
4) allowing the Citizen Scientists to explore the tidepools before conducting the
formal research, 5) discussing with the Citizen Scientists why the data is being collected
and why it is important, and 6) creating a webpage on the CACS website to display
the data collected by the volunteers. This program is being established with the hope
that it will both provide long-term data that can be used to track changes in the
intertidal zone in China Poot Bay and introduce people of all ages to the diverse
organisms that live there.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/815Citation
Jacob, David (2008). A Citizen Science Program for the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/815.Collections
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