Students in Wales went on a field visit to an area of coastal sand dunes near to their school. They had studied the formation of sand dunes and wanted to find out about the amount of marram grass and other vegetation growing on them. Photograph B (Insert) shows the coastal sand dunes they visited. Coastal sand dunes are popular places for people to visit and this may affect the growth of vegetation.

1. (a)(i)Explain how sand dunes like those shown in Photograph B are formed.[4]
2. (a)(ii)The students used the fieldwork equipment shown in Fig. 11 (below) to measure the changing angle of slope across the sand dunes. [Figure 11] Explain how the following equipment was used: Tape measure; Ranging poles; String; Clinometer.[4]
3. (b)The area the students visited was in a nature reserve where visitors had limited access to some areas. Use the data and the key below to complete the pie graph, Fig. 12, which shows visitor access. access only with permission 13% no access for visitors 19% [Figure 12][2]
4. (c)(i)Two students were allowed to work in an area where there was usually no visitor access. They used a quadrat to measure the vegetation cover every 10 metres along a transect through the sand dunes. Other students did the same task in an area open to visitors. Describe how the students would use a quadrat like the one shown in Photograph C (Insert) to do this fieldwork task.[3]
5. (c)(ii)The results of this task are shown in Table 4 (Insert). Use these results to plot in Fig. 13A (below), the percentage of vegetation cover at 20m along the transect.[1]
6. (c)(iii)The students also counted the number of different plant species every 10m along both transects. The results of this task are also shown in Table 4 (Insert). Use these results to plot in Fig. 13A (below), the number of species at 20m along the transect.[1]
7. (c)(iv)What conclusion would the students make about Hypothesis 1: Vegetation cover and the number of plant species are greater in areas with no visitor access? Support your answer with evidence from Table 4 and Figs. 13A and 13B.[4]
8. (d)(i)To investigate Hypothesis 2: The impact of people on the sand dunes increases away from the beach, the students decided to do a bi-polar survey at three sites in the dunes where visitors were allowed access. A bi-polar survey is a rating system used to measure the impact of people on the sand dunes. They agreed the following plan for the surveys. Location of survey Time of survey Group A at site A – 2m inland from the beach Monday morning 09:00 Group B at site B – 50 m inland from the beach Friday evening at 17:00 Group C at site C – 100m inland from the beach Sunday afternoon at 14:00 Give two reasons why their teacher suggested that this plan might produce unreliable results.[2]
9. (d)(ii)The results of the bi-polar survey for each group are shown in Table 5 (below). Complete Table 5 by inserting the scores and calculating the total score at site B. [Figure 14][1]
10. (d)(iii)Use the results in Table 5 to complete the results of the bi-polar survey at site B in Fig. 14 (below). [Figure 14][2]
11. (d)(iv)Do the results of the bi-polar survey in Table 5 and Fig. 14 support Hypothesis 2: The impact of people on the sand dunes increases away from the beach? Support your conclusion with evidence.[3]
12. (e)Fig. 12 shows that visitors are allowed access at any time to more than half of the area of sand dunes. Suggest how the sand dunes and vegetation in this area can be protected from visitors.[3]

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