Activity 5.3 - Succession

Click here to play the interactive tutorial on succession.

Click the next button to view the ‘Succession on coal mining spoil heaps’ task.

Succession on coal mining spoil heaps

This Powerpoint activity allows you to view the regeneration of plant cover on three spoil heaps of different ages. The spoil heaps are in Pwlldu near Abergavenny.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4132571

Task

Your task is to analyse the abiotic and biotic data on the three coal mining spoil heaps of different ages. You will then summarise the differences, and describe the changes as succession takes place.

Click the information button for more detailed information about the task.

This map shows 3 spoil heaps at Pwlldu (A, B and C). The waste was dumped at different times in the past, and the age of each is shown in the key.

Click on a thumbnail at the top of the screen to see more detail of the area.

A

B

C

Click on the data entry button to enter data into a spreadsheet.

Click on the soil data button to see the abiotic data.

Soil data

Data entry

Click on each of the spoil heaps (A, B, C) in turn to analyse the area in detail. Click on the information button to get full instructions. Click Home to return to this page.

A

B

32 years old

Quadrat 1

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

32 years old

Quadrat 2

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

Soil data

Data entry

32 years old

Quadrat 3

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

32 years old

Quadrat 4

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

32 years old

Quadrat 5

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

60 years old

Quadrat 1

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

60 years old

Quadrat 2

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

60 years old

Quadrat 3

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

60 years old

Quadrat 4

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

60 years old

Quadrat 5

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

145 years old

Quadrat 1

Soil data

Data entry

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

145 years old

Quadrat 2

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

145 years old

Quadrat 3

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

145 years old

Quadrat 4

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

Soil data

Data entry

145 years old

Quadrat 5

Key to species

Click on thumbnails

  Sampling Site

  A B C

  A (32 years) B (60 years) C (145 years)

  1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Species                              

Sheep's fescue                              

Heather                              

Cross-leaved heath                              

Spagnum moss                              

Soft Rush                              

Reindeer Moss                              

Bilberry                              

Click Esc to enter dataSoil data

Sheep’s fescue

Soil data

Data entry

Heather

Soil data

Data entry

Cross-leaved heath

Soil data

Data entry

Sphagnum

Soil data

Data entry

Soft rush

Soil data

Data entry

Reindeer moss

Soil data

Data entry

Bilberry without leaves

Soil data

Data entry

Bilberry with leaves

Soil data

Data entry

InstructionsUse the 5 quadrats at each spoil tip site to make

estimates of percentage cover of each plant, of plant cover in general, and ‘bare ground’.

Record your results for percentage cover on the downloadable spreadsheet, or on the slide provided in this presentation. Finally, by clicking on the soil data button you can see some information about the soils on each tip.

Use the combined information, this presentation and any additional slides with text and visuals (e.g. graphs and diagrams) you wish to create to summarise the changes to vegetation on the soil tips over time.

Your presentation should answer the question ‘What are the likely changes and timeline for natural restoration of coal mining spoil tips?’

Soil data

Data entry

Soil dataData entrySite A B C

Age (years) 32 60 145

pH 6 5 5

Soil water content

dish (g) 134 134 176

dish plus soil (g) 324 318 262

soil wet (g) 190 184 86

dish plus soil dry (g) 302 286 213

soil dry (g) 168 152 37

water loss (g) 22 32 49

% water content 13 19 29

Soil organic content

crucible (g) 9.44 9.32 10

crucible plus soil dry (g) 12.69 10.94 11.73

soil (g) 3.25 1.62 1.73

crucible plus ash (g) 12.35 10.94 11.35

humus (g) 0.34 0.38 0.38

% organic content 10.46 23.46 21.97

A

B

C