IMIS - Marine Onderzoeksgroepen

Six carefully selected sites were sampled, 3 disturbed and 3 undisturbed sites. Random quadrats were chosen per site with at least 30 adult trees, that is, with tree diameters at breast height (DBFD of at least 2.5 cm. All locations were marked using a Garmin 80 model Global Positioning System (GPS). For salinity, temperature and pH, 3 holes per site were dug, each of approximately 10 cm depth using a corer with a diameter of 6 cm, and panga to obtain replicate readings for interstitial water. An optical refractometer, Atago brand, was used to determine the salinity, while temperature and pH readings were obtained using a WTW pH 320/set-1 brand of pH meter. A nylon rope was used to measure the circumference at breast height (CBFD which may be converted to DBH using the formula DBH:CBF/π. A Recta compass with clinometer was used to measure the tree height. The corer scooped soil samples, from 3 locations, were divided into 5 approximately equal layers (10-8, 8-6, 6-4, 4-2,2-0 cm in depth) each per site. These were packed in pre-labeled plastic bags and carried to the Gazi field station laboratory. The samples were oven dried at 60°C in the laboratory. They were then stored in labelled plastic bags for granulometric analysis conducted at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN, Brussels). At KBIN, approximately 20 grams of each sample were scooped using a spatula and their exact weight determined, Crushing was at times necessary to loosen the soil particles. The organic matter in the samples were removed following the method of Wartel et al., (1995) using 30% diluted technical H2O2 as an oxidizing agent. The samples were then wet sieved through a 75-pm sieve using a Fritsch analysette to separate the coarse from the fine fraction. After ensuring that there were no floccules, a sedigraph was used for final analysis (according to Stoke's law).