Habitat Comparison Day
Hedleyhope Fell
and
Low Barns
Adaptations
Describe what each site looked like, and felt like.
Look at the measurements we took at each site, what do these tell us
about Hedleyhope Fell compared with Low Barns?
Drawing graphs (bar or line) for some of the
measurements will clearly show the differences
between the reserves.
What plants (flora) were present at Hedleyhope Fell that were absent at
Low Barns? Can you give reasons for this?
What plants were only present at Low Barns and why?
There were some plants present in both nature reserves, what can you
say about these plants?
Adaptation means a plant or animal is suited to its
habitat. All the plants you found thriving at Low
Barns and Hedleyhope Fell are adapted to the
different conditions in each habitat.
Interdependence
We looked for animals (fauna) in both reserves
What differences did you discover between Hedleyhope Fell and Low
Barns, can you explain this? Were there any similarities?
The animals you found were there because they find food in that habitat.
Think of one animal from each site, what did it eat that was also in that
habitat?
This animal is dependent on the presence of its food.
We can link the food (producer) to the eater (consumer) to make a food chain.
Can you make a food chain from the different habitats?
Remember each food chain starts with a green plant and ends with a top
predator.
Connect all the producers and consumers with arrows, they point in the
direction of the flow of food (energy) from the plant to the top predator.
How do plants get their energy?
Interdependent means that lots of things are
dependent on each other. A food chain shows how
living things are interdependent.
If the green plant is removed the top predator will go hungry - even though it
isn’t a herbivore (plant eater).
It is therefore very important that DWT (Durham Wildlife Trust) manage its
nature reserves to protect and encourage certain special plants. Without
these plants the creatures who eat them could not survive, and without these
the next consumers in the food chain would lose a food source.
Can you suggest ideas how DWT could manage a heathland or wetland
habitat to encourage endangered animals like adders or water voles?