Are Common Periwinkles Affecting Biodiversity?

Are Common Periwinkles Affecting Biodiversity?

By NOLAN ANDERSON

#1 Abstract IMRaC:

My reasoning for studying this question is to find

out whether or not Common Periwinkles are hurting our

environment and if they are, how badly are they hurting

it. I downloaded data from VitalSigns and put it into

different graphs of different locations throughout

Maine. My results reflected my original thoughts on

what would happen in the experiment. Overall, my

experiment shows how badly Common Periwinkles are

hurting us as a state.

#2 Introduction:

My essential question that I chose to study is: How do Common Periwinkles affect biodiversity in Maine? I find this topic extremely important because of the rapid increase of common periwinkles recently on the shores of Maine. The Common Periwinkle is very invasive and is putting many of our native species close to endangerment. This is very concerning because Maine needs every single one of our native species to keep our environment healthy. Common Periwinkle might just be the species that destroys our ecosystem and we need to find answers quickly.

#3 Methods:

In order to create this experiment, I needed to gather data about five different species: The invasive Common Periwinkle, the invasive Green Crab, the native Rough Periwinkle, the native Rock Crab, and the native Rockweed. I sorted this data into groups of four different locations: Falmouth, Biddeford, Cape Elizabeth, and Freeport. I gathered this data from VitalSigns. My control group was the list of species and the experimental was the different towns and locations.

#4 Results:

I found that the environments where the Common Periwinkles thrived, so did other invasive species such as the Green Crab. I also found that the native species were extremely low in the areas of the Common Periwinkles.

This shows the population count of the five species in Biddeford. The Common Periwinkle and Green Crab thrive while the

native species are very low.

This shows biodiversity in Falmouth. There is an enormous outlier in the Rockweed population.

This shows the biodiversity in the town of Cape Elizabeth. This displays how invasive the Green Crab is.

This shows the biodiversity in the town of Freeport. This displays how invasive the Common Periwinkle is.

#5 Discussion and Conclusion

How do Common Periwinkles affect biodiversity?

My hypothesis was supported because native species in the areas that Common Periwinkles thrived in were very low in population. My data was expressed in multiple bar graphs that had location as the independent variable. I think that scientists should use this information to find solutions for getting rid of Common Periwinkles or Green Crabs.