Written by Donna McDowellOn the 22nd of September, it had been two weeks since the cageing experiment of periwinkle snail Littoraria irrorata on saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora was initiated. Today was the day for the class to go outside and record the findings of the experiment. The weather was great and all were happy to be in the field. Students went out to untie the tops of the cages and unveil the findings.
Once cages were opened the teams then had to count the number of snails, measure height (mm) of 5 plants within each experiment, count radulations per plant, and assess % damage. The three densities of snails in the experiments were: 13, 600, and 1200. 
Sometimes within the experiments there were unfortunate victims. We found dead shrimp, fiddler crabs, and a mummichog. After all the data was collected the snails were returned to the marsh to live their happy fungi-eating lives.
The mean plant height was highest for the medium treatment, second for high, and third for lowest. Also, the mean number of radulations was greater for the medium treatment, 19.2, than the high treatment, 8.8, probably due to more marshgrass being alive to count the radulations. The percentage damage, of course, was greatest for the high treatment, 82%, and lowest for the low treatment, 2%.
Sometimes within the experiments there were unfortunate victims. We found dead shrimp, fiddler crabs, and a mummichog. After all the data was collected the snails were returned to the marsh to live their happy fungi-eating lives.
The mean plant height was highest for the medium treatment, second for high, and third for lowest. Also, the mean number of radulations was greater for the medium treatment, 19.2, than the high treatment, 8.8, probably due to more marshgrass being alive to count the radulations. The percentage damage, of course, was greatest for the high treatment, 82%, and lowest for the low treatment, 2%.
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