Ocean Impact on Weather

Ocean’s Impact on Weather

Instructions: In the Ocean’s Impact on Weather Lab, you explored the effects of restoring mangrove habitat compared to natural mangrove regrowth following a natural disaster. Record your observations in the lab report below. You will submit your completed report.

(30 points possible)

Name and Title (1 point)

Carmin Hackle

Chelsea Mosko

April 15, 2017

Oceans impact on weather

Objective(s) (2 points)

The point of this lab is to show how weather is basically caused through the ocean.

Hypothesis (2 points)

Independent- How the mangroves are planted

Dependent- How forests recover over 5 years

If mangroves are planted all over they will grow more over 5 years

Procedure

At the north beach, your team will implement a project to replant three mangrove species and monitor their growth over five years. The growth of the replanted mangroves will be compared to the natural regrowth of mangroves in the south beach area. Mangrove growth in both beach areas will be monitored via satellite. You will record data for each location about the percentage of mangrove coverage, the number of species in the area, and the average mangrove height in order to assess the health of the beaches.

Data and Analysis (16 points)

Percentage of Mangrove Coverage

	North Beach	South Beach
Before hurricane	80	100
Immediately after hurricane damage	10	20
6 months post hurricane	35	25
1 year post hurricane	60	45
2 years post hurricane	75	55
3 years post hurricane	80	70
4 years post hurricane	90	90
5 years post hurricane	95	95

Number of Species

	North Beach	South Beach
Before hurricane	54	59
Immediately after hurricane damage	21	34
6 months post hurricane	25	34
1 year post hurricane	31	37
2 years post hurricane	36	42
3 years post hurricane	39	45
4 years post hurricane	44	49
5 years post hurricane	51	55

Average Mangrove Height After Five Years (in meters)

	North Beach	South Beach
Red Mangrove	4.2	5.1
Black Mangrove	3.7	4.4
White Mangrove	3	3.7

Conclusion (9 points)

1. Yes the restoration project was effective because if more mangroves were planted everywhere it will grow more over the 5 years
2. Counting the number of species in the area is good because you need to know how many are out there and how fast they are growing throughout the years.
3. After five years, the average height of each mangrove species helped me better evaluate the restoration project