Shore Shapers: Introducing children and the general public to biogeomorphological processes and geodiversity

摘要

Coastal processes and wildlife shape the coast into a variety of eye-catching and enticing landforms that attract people to marvel at, relax and enjoy coastaludgeomorphology. These landforms also influence biological communities by providing habitat and refuge. There are very few field guides to explain these processes to theudgeneral public and children. In contrast, there is a relative wealth of resources and organised activities introducing people to coastal wildlife, especially on rocky shores.udThese biological resources typically focus on the biology and climatic controls on their distribution, rather than how the biology interacts with its physical habitat.udAs an outcome of two recent rock coast biogeomorphology projects (detailed at: www.biogeomorph.org/coastal) a multi disciplinary team produced the first knownudguide to understanding how biogeomorphological processes help create coastal landforms. The ‘Shore Shapers’ guide (shoreshapers.org) is designed to: a. bringudbiotic geomorphic interactions (how animals, algae and microorganisms protect and shape rock) to life and b. introduce some of the geomorphological and geologicaludcontrols on biogeomorphic processes and landform development. The guide provides scientific information in an accessible and interactive way – to help sustain children’s interest and extend their learning. We tested a draft version of the guide with children,the general public and volunteers on rocky shore rambles using social science techniques and present the findings, alongside initial results of an evaluation of a newer version of the guide and interactive workshops taking place throughout 2014.