OBSERVATION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

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OBSERVATION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEM

• MENATA 2, Piran 2006

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GROUP MEMBERS

• GROUP 1
• Barbara Staric
• Thomas Lackner
• Laima Mireckaite
• GROUP 2
• Karmen Brus
• Matej Smolic
• Marko Verce
• MENTORS
• prof. Darja Silan
• prof. Akis Christodoulou

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ADRIATIC SEA

• Adriatic sea is a gulf of Mediterranean sea
• Biologicaly and ecologicaly it is divided into
  three parts the colder, less salty and
  shallower northern part, the deeper middle part
  and the warmer, more salty and the deepest
  southern part

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SLOVENIAN SEA

• The Slovenian sea covers the southern part of the
  Gulf of Trieste in the Northern Adriatic
• With few exceptions the depth does not exceed 25
  m
• The waters of the Gulf experience considerable
  temperature and salinity changes because of its
  shallowness and freshwater inputs
• Slovenian coast is 46 km long

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COASTAL AREA

• The coast is the border of the sea and the border
  of the land at the same time
• When the tide is high, the coast is under water,
  when the tide is low, the coast is dry
• Many things (such as the tide, waves, winds,
  currents, temperature, ) have influence on life
  on the coast

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METHODS

• We searched for organisms and tried to determine
  what they are
• We used jars and plastic boxes to catch and
  contain some living organisms
• For determining the species of animals or plants
  we used books with pictures and descriptions
• We measured the temperature of the sea and the air

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• We worked in two work groups on two different
  locations. Both locations were on the coast in
  Fiesa, near Piran.
• The first location in the table was at the
  eastern side of the beach and the second was
  closer to Piran.
• It was sunny but part of the time the coast was
  in shadow because of the cliffs.

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Picture 1 Location 2
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RESULTS
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Picture 2 Fucus virsoides
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Picture 3 Remains of a crab (Pachygrapous
marmoratus)
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Picture 4 Podarcis sp
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Picture 5 Murex truncatus
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CONCLUSIONS

• Strong waves and tide have a great influence on
  coastal life, because the land is part time under
  water
• In this area, fauna is adapted to waves, so most
  of animals were found under rocks and they were
  small
• The most frequent animals are snails, bivalves
  and some crustaceans (isopods, crabs, )
• We anticipated to find more larger organisms but
  they were not there because of hard conditions
  (strong waves)