Document Type
Honors Thesis
Major
Ecology and Environmental Science
Advisor(s)
Amanda Klemmer
Committee Members
Margaret Killinger, Lindsay Seward, Laura Braun
Graduation Year
May 2023
Publication Date
Spring 2023
Abstract
Acadia National Park’s rocky intertidal ecosystem is one that supports a variety of different species and is highly susceptible to changes from human activity. This study aims to assess the pros and cons of using photo plots and community abundance analysis, compared to point-intersect transects, in rapid assessment protocols monitoring Acadia’s rocky intertidal ecosystem. I piloted the photoplot method, a photograph taken of the area contained within a foot-byfoot quadrat, to assess community abundance of the rocky intertidal ecosystem. Histograms and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination were used to analyze the community structure of various testing sites. This method of rapid assessment was found to be a worthy addition to the transect rapid analysis protocol because I could look at whole community composition at each elevation, compared to transects which only identify 1-3 species at a particular elevation. To work on educating and disseminating these results, I presented my study and potential anthropogenic threats to the rocky intertidal in UMaine BIO319 General Ecology course, along with creating a data interpretation assignment that enabled students to learn about diversity through analyzing some of my data.
Rights and Access Note
Copyright 2023 McLagan All Rights Reserved
Recommended Citation
McLagan, Kayla, "Understanding Community Abundance and Anthropogenic Impact on Acadia National Park's Rocky Intertidal Ecosystem Through Photoplot Analysis" (2023). Honors College. 811.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/811