This is the start of your Year 12 HSC Course - if you only want to do Year 11 you will need to see me about a research project based on fieldwork

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This is the start of your Year 12 HSC Course -
if you only want to do Year 11 you will need
to see me about a research project based on
fieldwork please come to class next Tuesday to
discussThis work is integrated with the work on
BIOSPHERE from our Yr 11 section.
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Year 12 Topic syllabus overview

• Ecosystems at Risk
• Students learn about
• ecosystems and their management
• case studies of ecosystems
• Plus TWO case studies of different ecosystems at
  risk to illustrate their unique characteristics
  our case studies will be inter-tidal wetlands and
  coral reefs focussing on Salt Pan Creek and the
  Great Barrier Reef.
• You must study both the case studies and overview
  work on ecosystems.

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Ecosystems at Risk

• The Biosphere is that part of the earths surface
  where all life occurs. It extends from sea level
  to over 9,000 metres high and to a depth of
  nearly 10,000 metres.
• This is the zone that supports all life on earth.
• Biomes are large complex regions of the biosphere
  such as forests or grasslands that have similar
  climate or vegetation features eg. Tropical
  rainforests, deserts, savanna grasslands,
  coniferous forests, alpine. (see next slide for
  the variety of biomes on earth).

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The earths biomes

• The Earth has many different environments,
  varying in temperature, moisture, light, and many
  other factors. Each of these habitats has
  distinct life forms living in it, forming complex
  communities of interdependent organisms. A
  complex community of plants and animals in a
  region and a climate is called a biome.
• Some of the biomes on Earth include
• Desert - very dry, either hot or cold
• Tundra - cool, treeless, and dry
• Chaparral or scrub - coastal area with hot, dry
  summers and mild, cool, rainy winters
• Taiga or Coniferous Forest - cool and dry, with
  coniferous trees
• Temperate Deciduous Forest - cool and rainy, with
  deciduous trees
• Grassland - Windy, partly dry sea of grass with
  few trees, including tropical savanna, prairie,
  steppe, pampas, etc.
• Mountain biomes there are a lot of different
  mountainous biomes, from grasslands at low
  altitudes, taiga (coniferous forests) below the
  treeline, and alpine (the same as tundra)
• Temperate Rain Forest - cool and wet
• Tropical Rain Forest - warm and very wet
• Land Caves - cool and dark
• Wetlands - there are many types of wetlands,
  including swamps, marshes, moors, bogs, fens,
  sloughs, etc.
• Freshwater Marsh - a wetland located near creeks,
  streams, rivers and lakes
• Temperate ponds

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What are ecosystems?

• Ecosystem - an area that contains organisms
  (e.g., plants, animals, bacteria) interacting
  with one another and their non-living
  environment. Ecosystems can be of any size (e.g.,
  forest, pond).
• Ecosystems may be classified according to their
  CLIMATE (eg. Alpine or desert), VEGETATION (eg.
  Tropical rainforest or savanna grassland),
  PHYSICAL FEATURES (eg. Coral reefs), TERRESTRIAL
  (eg. Land based such as grasslands or deserts) or
  AQUATIC (eg. Freshwater or saltwater such as
  coral reefs or wetlands).

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Variations in complexity and scale

• Ecosystems vary in complexity and scale from the
  Great Barrier Reef in north Queensland which
  extends for over 2,000 km, has over 2,000 fish
  species and 500 coral species to that of a pond
  or sand dune system on a beach.

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BIOPHYSICAL INTERACTIONS

• The interactions of the biosphere, lithosphere,
  hydrosphere and atmosphere together
• The interaction of food chains feeding
  relationships and population changes
• The interaction of biogeochemical cycles such as
  Carbon-Oxygen cycle, Nitrogen cycles,
• The interaction of fires, storms, floods
• INTERACTIONS MEANS
• SOMETHING HAPPENS -gt LEADS TO AN
  ACTION/EFFECT/IMPACT

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More terms

• BIODIVERSITY the variety of species or life
  forms and includes
• GENETIC DIVERSITY variations in the genetics of
  individuals within a species
• SPECIES DIVERSITY the variety of species within
  different habitats
• ECOLOGICAL DIVERSITY the variety of biological
  communities that interact within their non-living
  environment
• OTHER TERMS TO KNOW
• FOOD CHAIN set of organisms, each eating or
  feeding on the preceding one eg. Grass -gt
  grasshopper -gt bird
• FOOD WEB the network of interconnected food
  chains
• HERBIVORE organisms that consume plants as
  their only food source
• CARNIVORE organisms that consume meat as their
  only source of food
• OMNIVORE organisms that consume both plants and
  meat as food
• BIOMASS The total mass of living matter within
  a given unit of environmental area.
• SUCCESSION is the change in the structure and
  species combination of a plant community thus
  leading to a more complex community over time.

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The most productive areas in the world given
their natural production of living matter are.
Map below)
swamps and marshes 2500 g/m²/yr of biomass
tropical rain forests 2000 g/m²/yr of biomass
algal beds and reefs 2000 g/m²/yr of biomass
river estuaries 1800 g/m²/yr of biomass
temperate forests 1200 g/m²/yr of biomass
cultivated lands 600 g/m²/yr of biomass
deserts and tundras less than 200 g/m²/yr of
biomass This is based on Net primary production
which is the rate at which biomass is generated
in a given area, mainly due to photosynthesis.
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Board of Studies Syllabus

• Outcomes
• The student
• H1 explains the changing nature, spatial patterns
  and interaction of ecosystems, urban places and
  economic activity
• H2 explains the factors which place ecosystems at
  risk and the reasons for their protection
• H5 evaluates environmental management strategies
  in terms of ecological sustainability
• H6 evaluates the impacts of, and responses of
  people to, environmental change
• H7 justifies geographical methods applicable and
  useful in the workplace and relevant to a
  changing world
• H8 plans geographical inquiries to analyse and
  synthesise information from a variety of sources
• H9 evaluates geographical information and sources
  for usefulness, validity and reliability
• H10 applies maps, graphs and statistics,
  photographs and fieldwork to analyse and
  integrate data in geographical contexts
• H11 applies mathematical ideas and techniques to
  analyse geographical data
• H12 explains geographical patterns, processes and
  future trends through appropriate case studies
  and illustrative examples
• H13 communicates complex geographical
  information, ideas and issues effectively, using
  appropriate written and/or oral, cartographic and
  graphic forms.

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ecosystems and their management

• biophysical interactions which lead to diverse
  ecosystems and their functioning
• vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems
• impacts due to natural stress
• impacts due to human induced modifications to
  energy flows, nutrient cycling, and relationships
  between biophysical components
• the importance of ecosystem management and
  protection
• maintenance of genetic diversity
• utility values
• intrinsic values
• heritage values
• need to allow natural change to proceed
• evaluation of traditional and contemporary
  management strategies.

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case studies of ecosystems TWO case studies of
different ecosystems at risk

• spatial patterns and dimensions location,
  altitude, latitude, size, shape and continuity
• biophysical interactions including
• the dynamics of weather and climate
• geomorphic and hydrologic processes such as
  earth movements, weathering, erosion, transport
  and deposition, soil formation
• biogeographical processes invasion,
  succession, modification, resilience
• adjustments in response to natural stress
• the nature and rate of change which affects
  ecosystem functioning
• human impacts (both positive and negative)
• traditional and contemporary management
  practices.
• The selected ecosystems at risk could include
  areas such as coastal dunes,
• freshwater wetlands, inter-tidal wetlands, coral
  reefs, arid areas, alpine areas, rainforests,
  temperate forests.

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You need to know what these mean!

• spatial patterns and dimensions
• biophysical interactions
• the nature and rate of change
• human impacts
• traditional and contemporary management

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spatial patterns and dimensions

• Where is it?
• Size?
• Extent?

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This is how you should write an opening paragraph
or similar.... Underline key facts, figures,
location, dimensions.
SPATIAL PATTERN DIMENSIONS Coral Reef
ecosystems are located in tropical seas from
Latitudes 30N to 30S of the equator where
waters are clear, high in oxygen and free of
sediment from depths of 2 to 30m. These areas
include the Caribbean, the south Pacific and the
Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is
the largest known coral reef system in the world.
It is located from 8S to 24S extending some
2,300 km and consisting of 2,900 individual reefs
and 600 islands an area of approximately
348,700 km² and extends from Cape York to near
Bundaberg or similar information.
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This is what your sketch map should look
like....you can add more detail or use coloured
pencils, print, do not use textas/highlighter
pens, use PENCIL.
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biophysical interactions lead to diverse
ecosystems....

• Consider any interactions between the living and
  non-living components of the environment between
  and within one another
• CAUSE -gt EFFECT
• How one thing leads to another.....to create this
  ecosystem
• Eg. Food Chains, Food Webs, how the conditions of
  the natural environment work together to allow
  coral reefs to survive, how the zooxanthellae
  work symbiotically to allow the coral to survive
  how coral bleaching occurs how silt affects the
  coral reef how coral atols form and get
  colonised by plants (succession) changes in sea
  level over time have lead to the reef developing
  where it is......
• DEFINE ECOSYSTEMS at the start of the paragraph

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Another approach is...

• To use BIOSHPERE, LITHOSPHERE, ATMOSPHERE,
  HYDROSPHERE interactions
• How one leads to another......
• Can be difficult to write.....

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the nature and rate of change

• What types of change are occuring natural or
  human induced?
• Human induced is causing more rapid change! Learn
  some key facts/rates of change statements.
• How vulnerable or resilient is the coral reef?
• Define VULNERABILITY
• Define RESILIENCE remember...the more diverse,
  the greater the extent and the more food web
  linkages the more resilient!

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Nature and Rate of Change on GBR

• Daily
• Seasonal
• Over Geological Time modern GBR is 8,000 years
  old over which sea levels have changed
• Crown of Thorns Starfish
• Tropical Cyclones
• Sediment and Nutrient runoff floods
• Overfishing
• Coral Bleaching

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Natural Change

• Cyclones
• Sea levels over geological time - coral reefs
  have been around for over 500 million years, the
  GBR is only 500,000 years, and this most modern
  form is only 8,000 years old, having developed
  after the last ice age.
• Organisms molluscs, anemones, boring organisms,
  coral eating fish (parrotfish),
• Crown of Thorns

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Human Induced Change you need rates of change,
numbers, places,....

• Siltation
• Global Warming ? bleaching episodes dates!
• ? acidification and
  weakening
• of coral
  structures
• ? sea level changes
• Anchor damage
• Dynamite fishing (in South East Asian coral
  reefs)
• Overfishing
• Pollution

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Human change

• Oil spills
• Tourism
• Overfishing
• Land Clearing in the catchment carries silt and
  sediment into the reef
• Sewage
• Tourism
• Climate Change
• Dredging and sand mining

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Human Impacts

• This is the easiest concept human impacts both
  POSITIVE and NEGATIVE
• Positive includes making marine parks,
  educating people, setting bag limits on fishing
  catches, creating sediment traps in catchment
  areas emptying onto the reef, policing to ensure
  marine park remains viable.......
• Negative the easiest to write......siltation of
  the reef, cyanide and dynamite fishing in coral
  reefs in developing nations.....

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traditional and contemporary management

• Traditional traditional societies/native people
  eg. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders still
  can hunt some endangered animals as part of local
  customs but taboos and tribal beliefs limit
  killing of certain animals ...stewardship...respec
  t for environment....part of belief system.....
• Contemporary modern, current practices.
• eg. Zoning activities such as Great Barrier Reef
  Marine Park.

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Example of Contemporary Practice operating in GBR
Quicksilver Tours to the reef
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Low Isles is a vegetated coral cay (an example of
succession) with a light house rangers station.
Environmental Management Charge A Government
Environmental Management Charge of 5 is levied
for all adults and children 4 years and over
entering the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage
area. This charge is payable direct to
Quciksilver Tours on the day of travel.
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More management techniques..

• Quicksilver Tours has the largest team of marine
  biologists outside of a government agency! In
  fact, Reef Biosearch has the longest logbook
  database of marine observations on the Great
  Barrier Reef, ongoing for over two decades. All
  of our tours are accredited with Advanced
  Ecotourism Certification and each day, our team
  of marine biologists are also on hand to ensure
  our guests gain an appreciation of our World
  Heritage environment.
• Tours visit the reef and coral cays permanent
  pontoons and moorings are placed at selected
  locations rather than put down anchors as anchors
  damage the reef.
• Other techniques involve reporting incidents by
  operators in the Marine Park. It could be someone
  littering, taking more than the group size to a
  Location, moving too close to a whale, not using
  a booking system, operating an illegal mooring,
  any damage to a mooring, operating without a
  permit or fishing in a green zone.
• Reporting unusual animals or events such as
  sunfish, whale sharks, Maori wrasse, waterspouts,
  bleaching or blooms, even reporting marked or
  tagged animals, stranded marine mammals, or
  animals that are threatened or trapped.

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Guided tours by qualified tour operators
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Lifeguards and staff inform and educate visitors
monitor visitors and other boating behaviour or
breeches of environmental and safety procedures
and report back to GBRMPA - visitors given
leaflets and told not to touch or damage reef and
monitored during snorkelling or walking tours
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Example How Tourism on the GBR is managed in GBR

• Quicksilver Tours
• Education provided by signs, brochures, Marine
  Biologist on tours to inform people on walks
  around islands or on board boat trip eg. No
  walking on coral, identify marine animals, safety
• No anchoring tie up to mooring
• No wave activity close to shore passive water
  sports eg. Snorkelling
• Rangers, Lifeguards watch tourists.
• Tour companies limited to certain locations
  damage monitored by Marine Biologist who reports
  back to GBRMPA damage to reef by operators will
  result in loss of access and licence....