Healthy or not?

ECOLOGY

IMPORTANT TERMSEcology: The study of organisms and their interactions with the environment.

Ecosystem: A community of living organisms interacting with each other and with the non-living components of their environment.

Species: A group of organisms that have the same characteristics (features) and which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

Biodiversity: Bio=life, diversity=different. It is made up of two things:• Species richness: the number of different

species found in an ecosystem or part of an ecosystem.

• Species abundance: how many individuals of each species there are.

Biodiversity in a Man-made EnvironmentAim: to measure and compare the biodiversity in a range of habitats around the school.Method: place quadrat on the ground then: 1. Record the different species you see inside (look carefully for plants and insects). Take photos of each species you find (get in close!).2. Estimate the percentage of the quadrat’s area taken up by each species.Results: (you will need 1 row for each species)

SPECIES ABUNDANCE (%)

etc…

Biodiversity in a Man-made EnvironmentOverall Results for Species Richness:

Questions1. Which areas had the greatest and least species richness?2. List reasons for these differences.3. How do you think the biodiversity in the school would

differ from the natural environment?4. What could be done to increase the biodiversity of animals

(especially birds and insects) in a natural or man made environment?

AREA Patchy ground

Garden bed

Oval Smoker’s tree

Railway fence

NO OF SPECIES

Measuring Biodiversity at SHS

• Areas:– Garden bed near the library– Light-foot Oval– Under the trees (smoker’s trees) near old students

cricket nets– The patchy ground behind the SSC– Near back fence near railway line

http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/pests-diseases-and-weeds/weeds/a-z-of-weeds

http://www.weeds.org.au/weedident.htm

http://livingturf.com.au/weed-identification/

http://thelawnguide.com.au/lawn-varieties/35-lawn-varieties/350-lawn-types-in-australia.html

http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/

COMMON WEEDS IN VICTORIA

COMMON INSECTS IN VICTORIA

Biodiversity in a Man-made EnvironmentQuestions1. Which areas had the greatest and least biodiversity?The area near the railway line had the most, the smokers’ tree the least.2. List reasons for these differences.-butts could be toxic-feet trampling ground-smokers’ tree more shady-soil may not be as fertile under smokers’ tree-railway fence has more leaf litter3. How do you think the biodiversity in the school would differ from the natural

environment?There is a lot of foot trafficThis place is managed in a different way according to our needs (foot paths, asphalt etc)4. What could be done to increase the biodiversity of animals (especially birds and

insects) in a natural or man made environment?Plant treesFootpaths (so people don’t trample the forest)Stop littering, logging etc