Aberfrraw Dune Slacks

Weather: Cloudy ,windy and temperature around 10 ° C

My first field visit to sand dune slacks - Aberffraw in Wales to understand hydrological aspects of dunes wetland. Due to different hydrology of sand dunes, this field visit was totally different from previous 7 Fields (bogs and fen). Surprisingly, first time I was not wet during fieldwork as there were no puddles of water. It was a surprise because I never expected sand dunes to be a type of the wetlands. Jenifer and Hilary were leading out trip. Jenifer is a PhD student in the University, who has been studying impact of nutrients on hydrological aspects of Aberffraw dune slacks. Jennifer was with us to teach us hydrological parameters of sand dune slacks; simultaneously she did teach us leveling, soil samplings and water samplings of dune slacks. Hilary (Botanist) helped us to identify vegetation and quadrate biodiversity estimation.

Map: Aberffraw Dunes

Aberffraw Sand Dunes are located in the west coast of Anglesey, North Wales. Earlier an important port,  Aberffraw turned into sand dunes  due to westerly winds. The estuary converted into wind-blown sand and later into sand dunes. Average height of the sand dunes was more than 30 feet. These dunes bestow habitat to wide range of floral and faunal diversity including insects and bird species such as Feeding chough, Breeding lapwing and Skylark. Along with that, dunes do support few rare species, like Shore dock and Petalwort. Along with this, this site is believed to be good habitat for the invertebrates. But, unfortunately, we could not see any of them. Although,  Aberffraw is a habitat for wide range of biodiversity. This site is facing various problems due to seepage of chemical discharge from agricultural farms from nearby areas. This is a matter of huge concern and research for wetland scientists. 

Overview of Abberfraw Dune

Although, many species of grasses and sedges are common, sand dunes are stabilized by Marram grass. Due to approaching winter, we could not observe them in the field. Historically this site was used for cattle grazing with the believe that grazing help grow native flora. Moreover, rabbits were introduced alongside other domestic stock, creating distinctive species-rich "lawns" and ensuring a supply of bare sand areas, which are essential for many species of invertebrates, lizards and snakes.

While collecting data, we decided to spread into 2 groups led by Hilary and Jenifer for the convenience. After lunch, Hilary and Jenifer changed groups so that we could get benefits from both of them. Initially, I was in the group of Hilary to identify key features of dune vegetation. First she helped us to distinguish between grasses and sedges, and then we recorded floral diversity to find out percentage cover. We plotted 2 quadrates of 1 X 1m at the Well site # 12 and # 13,  which were 7 m  towards North and South. The percentage cover recorded by our group at the Well # 12 was more than 100%, which depicts a good floral diversity. But data collected by another group shows less diversity for the Well site # 13. Table below provides detail of the floral diversity:

Plant Species	Well #12 Site 2(N)	Well #13 Site 1 (S)	Well #13 Site 2 (N)
Agrostis stolonifera	20	trace	5
Carex arenaria	10	15	0
Carex flacca	0	5	65
Epipactis palustris	5	trace	1
Equisetum variegatum	12	trace	1
Galium palustre	trace	trace	2
Hydrocotyle vulgaris	0	1	trace
Leontodon hispidus	10	trace	0
Lotus corniculatus	10	trace	trace
Mentha aquatica	trace	1	0
Potentila anserina	20	3	12
Prunella vulgaris	10	trace	trace
Ranunculus acris	15	trace	0
Ranunculus repens	0	3	1
Rubus caesius	20	40	15
Salix repens	20	trace	4
Danthonia decumbens	2	trace	0
Trifoliuim repens	trace	trace	trace
Calliergon cuspidatum	20	55	0
Campylium stellatum	2	trace	0
Cardamine pratensis (Cuckoo flower)trace		trace	1
Cirsium palustre	0	trace	trace
Litter	0	10	0
Molinia cerea	0	10	0
Meadow sweet	0	3	0
Others	0	6	0

After that two groups were interchanged between Hilary and Jenifer. This time my group did leveling and water sampling. I found leveling very interesting; despite we were using old technology. It was a good experience for me to understand basic concepts of leveling and measuring elevation. Given below is the data collecte. 

Estimating ground water 
depth and extracting
 water sample

Busy in extracting water 
   sample from well 13

I think for me, the most exciting part of the field visit was groundwater depth measurement and water sample collection by using new techniques. It was very easy.The good thing about the field visit was proper management of time. While we were busy with Hilary, another group was simultaneously doing leveling. As a result, we were able to accomplish all work in estimated time.  Then we had lunch, after lunch we did collection of soil samples together. Soil samples collection method was totally different, quick and very interesting from previous ones.

Well number	Elevation (M)	Water table elevation (M)
13	11.30	10.49
14	12.06	11.63
15	10.78	10.49

I don’t know whether I will be working in future for Dune slacks wetlands but, techniques I have learnt regarding hydrology will be useful for my future study and professional career.