NSW Biology 01

Preliminary
Course
Chapter
one
A local
ecosystem
P2 applies the processes that are used to
test and validate models, theories and
laws of science, with particular emphasis
on first-hand investigations in biology
P4 describes applications of biology which
affect society or the environment
P6 explains how cell ultrastructure and the
coordinated activities of cells, tissues
and organs contribute to macroscopic
processes in organisms
P7 describes the range of organisms in
terms of specialisation for a habitat
P8 analyses the interrelationships of
organisms within the ecosystem
P11 identifies and implements improvements
to investigation plans
P12 discusses the validity and reliability
of data gathered from first-hand
investigations and secondary sources
P13 identifies appropriate terminology
and reporting styles to communicate
information and understanding in biology
P14 draws valid conclusions from gathered
data and information
P15 implements strategies to work effectively
as an individual or as a team member
P16 demonstrates positive values about and
attitudes towards both the living and nonliving components of the environment,
ethical behaviour and a desire for a
critical evaluation of the consequences of
the applications of science
NSW Biology Preliminary Course
Context
BioiNFo
Are these lizards in your
backyard?
Although they have similar

diets and daily habits, the
shingleback (stumpy-tailed)
lizard Tiliqua rugosa has a
much more restricted range
of distribution than the
eastern blue-tongue lizard
T. scincoides. Shinglebacks
inhabit semi-arid areas
of southern and eastern
Australia west of the Great
Dividing Range. Eastern bluetongues are found widely
along the eastern Australian
coast and in isolated pockets
of central NSW. The different
distributions of these two
closely related lizards is due
to differences in sensitivity
to climatic conditions, the
eastern blue-tongue being
less sensitive to extremes of
temperature and humidity.
Have you ever wondered why some organisms live in particular areas (habitats)
while others live elsewhere? Most organisms are not spread evenly throughout their
habitatsin some places you will find many organisms and in other places only a
few. Ecologists have worked for many years to try to answer some of the questions
about factors affecting the abundance (how many) and distribution (where they are
found) of organisms. It is thought that organisms are affected by their environment
in many ways. Every living thing interacts with the living and non-living parts of
their environment (ecosystem). It is these interactions that lead to differences in
abundance and distribution of species. Each local ecosystem is distinct and reflects
the conditions that exist there.
For example, in Garigal National Park, bordering Bantry Bay, Sydney, many animal
species coexist (are found together). If you went there you might identify them by
listening to their calls or from their scats (faeces), footprints or slither marks on the
ground. If you were to look in backyards next to the bushland of Garigal National Park,
you would find many animals coexisting with humans, including echidnas, bandicoots,
noisy miners, possums, king parrots and flying foxes. Blue-tongue lizards wander
through gardens in summer, as does the occasional red-bellied black snake; and the
occasional beheaded possum indicates the ever-present fox.
What organisms are in your backyard?

1 Identify the organisms in your backyard. (Note the date and season. List and
count every single animal and plant that you see and where you find them.)
2 Next week construct another list of your backyard animals and plants. Assess
whether there are major differences in species abundance and distribution from
your previous list.
3 Explain the differences that you record.
4 Predict which of your backyard organisms you would expect to find throughout
the year.
5 Construct a list of many of the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) features in
your backyard that can influence species abundance and distribution.
Figure 1.2 School excursion at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, NSW
Figure 1.1
a) Blue-tongue
lizard Tiliqua
scincoides
b) Shingleback
lizard T. rugosa
While you have recorded some of the

local animals in your garden, you can only
guess at how many animals and plants live
there. Scientists use research methods to
estimate the numbers and distributions
of species in natural ecosystems. In this
chapter you will be learning some of these
techniques and you will put these into
practice when you go to study one of your
local ecosystems, such as the intertidal
ecosystem at Long Reef on Sydneys
northern beaches, NSW.
Chapter 1 A local ecosystem
Unit 1.1 Defining ecosystems

Student learn to:
recall the biotic and abiotic features of the local environment
Studying organisms
The whole area of scientific study of the interaction of organisms with each other
and with their environment is known as ecology. It is a relatively new scientific
discipline because, prior to Joe Connells work in Scotland on barnacles,
scientists such as Charles Darwin merely described the relationships of animals
and their environment. Charles Darwin also worked on barnacles, but the
difference between Darwins and Connells work was that Darwin described
barnacles by their structure, function and habitat, while Connell experimented
by manipulating densities and counting how many survived. Connells (1961)
papers inspired the scientific community to study terrestrial and aquatic animals
and plants in their own environment using experimental manipulations in the
field. This was an important step because instead of just making observations
and speculating on the reasons why organisms may be distributed in a certain
way, scientists now experimentally manipulate some factors (variables) to
determine which are the main ones influencing the organisms distribution
and abundance. In any good experiment, scientists repeat each treatment, and
control to account for any variation that may occur. For example, if ecologists
want to test for the influence of grazing snails on the cover of algae on a rocky
shore, they would remove all snails from at least two fenced plots (treatment)
and compare the amount of algae growing in these areas with at least another
two fenced plots where snails were allowed to remain (control).
Ecologists study populations of Australian animals and/or plants using field
experiments. That is, ecological study or research is based on observations
of organisms in their natural environment. From these initial observations
scientists propose models or explanations and then hypotheses to predict the
Figure 1.1.1 University

student determining percent
cover of intertidal algae and
animals at Dee Why, NSW
outcomes of field experiments. These experiments are designed to limit the

effect of all other factors except the one being tested.
From these experimental tests of hypotheses, scientists gain information
about the organism being tested. For example, results from studying the
honeycomb barnacle Chamaesipho tasmanica (see figures 1.1.2, 1.1.7) at
Cape Banks, Botany Bay, have shown that the larval cyprid stage is gregarious
when settling. When given a choice, cyprids settled near already established
adults rather than in bare patches of substratum. This indicates that some
physical and/or biochemical factor from adults acts as a cue to induce larval
settlement.
Figure 1.1.2 a) Honeycomb barnacle Chamaesipho tasmanica showing adults (aperture length 2mm), juveniles and
one cyprid larva (420m); b) Close-up of cyprid larva (420m) attached by anterior end to substratum before changing
(metamorphosis) into a juvenile barnacle
What is an ecosystem?
It can be difficult to define ecosystem. This is because there are many ecological
terms that are similar but have slight differences in meaning. For example, an
ecosystem includes all the organisms in a particular environment and their
interactions with their living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) surroundings
(environment). Therefore a rocky shore is an ecosystem; the study of the
organisms that live there and the factors affecting them is the ecology; the
habitat where they live may be sheltered crevices; and the environment includes
temperature (abiotic) and the carnivorous snails (biotic) that eat them. Deserts,
coral reefs, alpine areas, creeks, woodland and cities (see figures 1.1.3, 1.1.4)
are also examples of ecosystems.
If you were to go into an ecosystem and count the number of species in an
area there, the total number would be called species diversity or biodiversity.
If you then counted how many individuals of each species in the area, this would
be called the total number of individuals or abundance. The biodiversity and
abundance change as the biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem change.
A tropical rainforest ecosystem has the greatest biodiversity, whereas desert
ecosystems and urban ecosystems such as cities have the smallest number of
species. In highly polluted areas or in agricultural areas where humans have
impacted on the natural environment, biodiversity may be relatively small

but there may be large numbers of individuals within these populations.

For example, if you were to count the number of benthic (bottom-dwelling)
organisms near boardwalks in mangroves near the Sydney Olympic site, there
may only be one species of polychaete worm but there could be lots of them.
Figure 1.1.3 Terrestrial ecosystems: a) Sand dune ecosystemKurnell, NSW; b) Temperate rainforestTas; c) Open
eucalypt forest Blue Mountains National Park, NSW; d) GrasslandKosciuszko National Park; e) Alpine ecosystem
Australian Alps; f) SavannaQld; g) Salt lake ecosystemLake Frome, SA
Figure 1.1.4 Aquatic ecosystems: a) Coral reef ecosystemGreat Barrier Reef, Qld; b) Estuarine ecosystem and urban
ecosystemSydney, NSW; c) Freshwater creek ecosystemBrookvale Creek, Sydney, NSW; d) Rocky shore ecosystem
Long Reef, Sydney, NSW; e) Freshwater billabong ecosystemNT; f) Sandy beach ecosystemJervis Bay, NSW; g)
Intermittently open coastal lagoon ecosystemSmiths Lake, NSW
What are populations and communities in

ecosystems?
There are different ecosystems (even your own backyard is an ecosystem), each
with a particular set of biotic and abiotic conditions along with characteristic
species. These species that live together are known as a community or species
assemblage. (Although both terms appear to mean the same, ecologists now
tend to prefer to use the word assemblage because interactions among
species are not assumed when using this word.) A community includes all the
biological organisms living in a particular habitat at a particular time. This
may be all species of snails, barnacles and algae that live in an intertidal rock
platform ecosystem. These communities are made up of populations consisting
of numbers of individuals of the same species. That is, an ecosystem is an
assemblage of populations of different species and their surrounding biotic
and abiotic environment (see figure 1.1.5).
01022
Sun
Vertical distribution of some organisms on a rock platform
Snail
Mid shore
Crab
Population
Barnacle
Organism
Ecosystem
Rocky
substratum
Polychaete worm
Sea squirts
Snail
Low shore
Community/species
assemblage
Algae
Crab
Oyster
Waves
Figure 1.1.5 On a rock platform, barnacles can be seen to exist as an organism within a population, within a community
(species assemblage), within an ecosystem
Figure 1.1.6 Different species assemblages in two rockpools, 5m apart, on the intertidal rock platform at Long Reef,
NSW. a) algaeNeptunes necklace Hormosira banksii, Sargassum sp.; snailsblack snail Nerita atramentosa, mulberry
whelk Morula marginalba; anemoneswaratah anenome Actinia tenebrosa. b) algaeSargassum sp., sea lettuce Ulva
lactuca; snailsblack snail Nerita atramentosa, mulberry whelk Morula marginalba, Bembicium nanum; anemones
waratah anenome Actinia tenebrosa.
BioiNFo
Have you looked in any
good rock pools lately?
If you look in two rock pools

close together on an intertidal
rock platform you would see
that they do not have the
same number of species, or
numbers of individuals within
a species (see figure 1.1.6).
If you look at the substratum
(rock) surrounding these rock
pools you may also notice that
there is no constant pattern.
For example, each pool has
different algae growing there.
Even though ecosystems may
have some characteristic
abiotic and biotic factors
these are constantly changing
and affect the abundance and
distribution of populations of
organisms.
What is the difference between environment

and habitat?
It can also be hard to tell the difference between the words environment
and habitat. The environment of an organism is made up of the physical,
chemical and biological factors that act on it. These factors may be living
(biotic) or non-living (abiotic). Biotic factors include predation, disease and
competition for food, shelter and mates. Abiotic factors include temperature,
light, water availability, viscosity, buoyancy, availability of gases, availability
of ions, physical forces such as wind, and availability of shelter and space.
The habitat is the exact place where an organism lives within an ecosystem
its address. The habitat of the honeycomb barnacle C. tasmanica (see figures
1.1.2, 1.1.7) is on the rocky substratum of sheltered intertidal rock platforms
from northern NSW to Tasmania, and westwards into the Great Australian
Bight. Because these barnacles live in an intertidal environment they must be
able to cope with extremes of temperature, salinity and humidity, while food
and mates are only available when they are covered by water at high tide.
They only live within very narrow limits and are able to survive partly because
of a larval phase in their life-cycle. Adults release larvae into the ocean; there
these larvae change form (metamorphose)
and are dispersed to new areas where
they settle and change into sessile (they
are stuck to the rock and cannot move)
juveniles and adults. Other organisms,
such as migratory birds have a wide range
of habitats due to their increased mobility,
food preferences and food seasonality.
Figure 1.1.7 The honeycomb barnacle

C. tasmanica has a restricted habitat on rocks
at mid-shore levels of sheltered shores in southeastern Australia.
BioiNFo
Threatened mammals
Abiotic and biotic factors

are necessary for an
organisms survival and
reproduction. If any of those
factors are limiting, survival
of a species may be under
threat. Many wombats in
Kosciuszko National Park
perished in winter 2003
because they were unable
to obtain enough food due
to sub-alpine grassfires in
January. The mountain pygmy
possum Burramys parvus
is adapted to temperature
extremes and also lives in
Kosciuszko National Park in
small isolated colonies in
alpine areas. These animals,
however, will die if exposed to
temperatures above 30C for
several days. Global warming
therefore poses a serious
threat to the continued
survival of this species.
Figure 1.1.8 a) A happy, healthy wombat with an even happier Steve Irwin (Australians
will never forget Steve Irwin, the passionate conservationist who died while filming a
wildlife documentary on the Great Barrier Reef, Qld, in September 2006); b) Mountain
pygmy possum
Review: 1.1 Defining ecosystems

Key terms
abiotic
biotic
ecology
habitat
organism
abundance
community
ecosystem
hypothesis
population
Main points
i An ecosystem includes all the organisms in a
i
i
i
i
10
particular environment and the interaction of

these organisms with biotic and abiotic factors.
A community (species assemblage) includes all
the organisms living in a particular area (habitat),
that is, many populations of different species.
A population consists of groups of individuals of
the same species living in the same area.
An organism is an individual within a population.
The environment consists of the physical,
chemical (abiotic) and biological (biotic) factors
that act on an organism within its habitat.
biodiversity
distribution
environment
observations
species assemblage
i The habitat is the specific place where an

organism livesits address.
i Abiotic factors are the non-living physical and

chemical factors of an organisms environment.
i Biotic factors are the living factors of an

organisms environment.
i Abiotic factors include viscosity, buoyancy,
temperature variation, availability of gases,
water and ions, light penetration, pressure
variation, natural physical forces, shelter and
space.
i Biotic factors include predation, disease,
competition for food, space, shelter and mates.
Revision questions
1 Identify two local ecosystems that you have

visited recently.
2 Identify which of the following are abiotic factors:
rock, tree, tractor and temperature.
3 Identify some abiotic and some biotic factors in
your backyard.
4 Contrast the difference between an ecosystem
and a habitat.
5 Contrast the difference between an environment
and a habitat.
6 Identify your habitat where you live.

7 Describe the habitat for each stage of the
mosquitos life cycle (eggs, larvae, pupae and
adults).
8 Identify the animals you would expect to find in a
rainforest community.
9 Discuss whether you think that a dog is a fleas
environment or habitat.
10 A termite colony consists of many different forms
of termitesqueens, workers, soldiersdefine
this colony as a community or a population.
Unit 1.2 Terrestrial and aquatic

environments
Students learn to:
1.1 compare the abiotic characteristics of aquatic and terrestrial environments

Environments within ecosystems may be terrestrial (land) or aquatic (fresh
or salt water). Many large and small animals and plants live in terrestrial
habitats. In aquatic habitats you may have seen fish swimming in freshwater
creeks or dams, or in salt water in the ocean or somewhere in-between such as
brackish or estuarine aquatic habitats. Some organisms spend their adult life
in terrestrial habitats and their larval life in aquatic habitats. Some of these
may be frogs, mosquitoes and dragonflies. Other animals may even move
across land to get from one pool to anothereels, frogs and tortoises can do
this. Some environments are also intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic
habitats. Intertidal rock platforms and estuaries are aquatic when the tide is in,
and terrestrial when the tide is low. Salt marshes are transitional areas between
aquatic and terrestrial environments. Salt lakes in the Australian interior
are usually terrestrial but occasionally become aquatic after heavy seasonal
flooding rain. When flooding occurs in the outback, opportunistic coastal
waterbirds such as pelicans and seagulls migrate to these areas resulting in
huge fluctuations in populations. Conversely, recent severe drought has caused
many waterbirds that usually inhabit wetlands in Central NSW to take refuge
in Sydneys Centennial Park and Olympic Park.
Abiotic factors
The abiotic factors in terrestrial and aquatic environments are very different.
Table 1.2.1 outlines in more detail the differences between abiotic (non-living)
factors in these different environments.
11
Table 1.2.1 Comparing the abiotic characteristics of aquatic and terrestrial environments
Abiotic factor
Aquatic environment
Viscosity
Resistance to movement through a
medium
It is difficult to move because water is It is easier to move because air is

less viscous than water
more viscous than air, so bodies are
often streamlined
Buoyancy
Upthrust (upward pressure) or
support
It is easier to be supported,
particularly for soft-bodied organisms
Organisms need support to function

properly: for example, skeletons in
humans, exoskeletons in cockroaches
and woody tissue in plants
Temperature
Varies daily and with seasons and
with latitude
There is little difference in

temperature except in a very small
and shallow body of water
Organisms experience a wide range of

temperature at high altitudes, in the
Arctic or Antarctica, and in the desert,
which is warm in the day but cold at
night
If the surrounding water is too warm

or deep, organisms have trouble
getting enough oxygen (and carbon
dioxide if a plant)
Organisms are able to get enough

oxygen (20% of air is O2 and 0.03%
CO2), except on very high mountains
In freshwater, ample water and

dissolved nutrients would sustain
life. In saltwater, water leaves cells,
leading to thirst and dehydration.
The amount of rain and where an

organism lived would determine the
water available
Availability of gases, water and ions

a) Gases
Oxygen O2 for respiration,
carbon dioxide CO2 for
photosynthesis
b) Water
Living organisms are 6090%
water
In saltwater, dissolved ions are

freely available (saltwater = marine
environments, which are 35% ions:
mainly sodium and chloride) but
in freshwater, ions are lower in
concentration
c) Ions
Charged particles
Terrestrial environment
The amount of ions available depends

on whether soil is fertile or poor
Light penetration
The sun is the source of light energy
Little light penetrates turbid, deep

water
Copious light is available in summer,

except in dark areas such as caves or
rainforests
Pressure variation
Organisms are exposed to more

pressure at greater depths
There is less pressure on mountains
Physical forces
Storms cause high tides, strong

currents, huge waves and strong
winds
Exposure to extreme wind and rain

could cause death
Shelter/space
Organisms may need to shelter from

predators and to establish a territory
with sufficient food and mates
Organisms may need to shelter

from predators and exposure and to
establish a territory with sufficient
food, space and mates
Viscosity
Viscosity is determined by the degree of difficulty experienced by an organism
to pass through a medium. For example, have you ever imagined swimming
through a pool of honey? It is more difficult to swim through a pool of honey
than water because honey has a greater viscosity than water. Humans use long
and narrow weapons called torpedoes in submarine warfare because this shape
has least resistance to movement through water. Dolphins and barnacle cyprid
12
Figure 1.2.1 Their torpedo

shape allows dolphins to
travel at considerable speed
through water
larvae (see figure 1.1.2b) are also streamlined like torpedoes. Mobile terrestrial
organisms, like koalas for instance, do not need to be this shape because air
does not offer much resistance to movement.
Buoyancy
Figure 1.2.2 Air has little
resistance to movement so
koalas do not need to be
streamlined
01031
Shoulder Clavicle
girdle
Scapula
Buoyancy is the support offered by a substance, such as liquid or gas, to

an organism. Those living in terrestrial habitats require support, while the
surrounding water supports those living in aquatic environments. This is
because less viscous substances offer less buoyancy. For example, air has little
buoyancy so organisms must provide their own support. If you did not have
a skeleton for support, you might look like a shapeless blob and have a lot of
difficulty moving around. Most plants have lignin and woody tissue in mature
xylem cell walls providing structural support so plants can grow talla kind
of internal skeleton. Mosses cannot grow tall like eucalypts (see figure 1.1.3c)
because they do not have woody tissue (xylem cells with lignin) to support their
Skull
Sternum
Rib
Humerus
Vertebra
Radius
Ulna
Pelvic girdle
Carpals
Phalanges
Femur
Patella
Tibia
Fibula
Tarsals
Phalanges
Figure 1.2.3 Skeletons

offer support to animals on
land
Figure 1.2.4 Mosses are small because they do not possess xylem cells. In other plants
lignin provides structural support and keeps xylem cells open so water can be transported.
13
weight, nor to transport water through the plant. Large animals have skeletons
to support their body and give them shape. Aquatic animals such as jellyfish
have no internal support, but maintain their shape with support from water.
Some animals such as whales can grow to a huge size because water supports
their bulk. If whales are beached, however, they often remain stranded and die
because they are unable to support themselves in air.
BioiNFo
Helpless giant
The largest animal ever to live

is the blue whale. Weighing up
to 100 tonnes, the blue whale
has no trouble moving through
water, but is helpless out of
water as it relies on water for
support.
Figure 1.2.5 Whales are

helpless out of water
Variation in temperature
In terrestrial environments, temperature can vary enormously within a
short time. You may have experienced this if you have ever felt boiling hot,
warm and then cold all on the same day. The graph in figure 1.2.6 shows the
temperature variation during a single day in summer in NSW. In desert regions
this variation may be even greater with temperatures up to 45C during the
day and dropping to as low as freezing at night. The range of temperature
variations will also change during different seasons, when the maximum and
minimum temperatures vary.
50
Temperatures for Sydney and Penrith, 18/1/2003

Max 44.5 at 2.21 pm
Air temperature (C)
45
Figure 1.2.6 Temperatures

can vary widely during a
NSW summers day
Source: Bureau of Meteorology
14
Penrith
40
Max 39.0 at 5.08 pm
35
30
Sydney
25
20
6.00
12.00
Time
17.57
23.59
BioiNFo
Hot male crocs/cool male
turtles
On land, the temperature at

which eggs are incubated
determines the sex of some
reptiles. If the temperature of
surrounding sand is 31C and
above, female marine turtles
will hatch, whereas males
are produced from cooler
nests (25C and below). Both
males and females will hatch
from nests of intermediate
temperatures. Conversely,
all saltwater crocodiles
Crocodylus porosus will be
male if nests are warm (over
32C) but will be female
if cooler (under 30C).
Freshwater crocodiles C.
johnstoni will mostly be males
from nests of 31C to 32C,
and females will be produced
at warmer and cooler
temperatures.
ioiNFo
Will global warming cause

the GBR to die?
It is predicted that the Great
Barrier Reef will lose 95%
of its coral in 50 years due
to rising water temperatures
associated with global
warming. Recent coral
bleaching and coral deaths
were related to only a one
degree rise in temperature,
whereas temperature is
predicted to rise between two
to six degrees within the next
50 years.
In aquatic environments, temperature remains relatively stable. However,

on a hot summers day you may have swum in a dam where there were hot
and then cold patches of water. This is because large bodies of still water have
warm surface layers sitting on top of cooler layers. If you decided to swim in
the same dam in winter you would not find these variations in temperature
because wind at the surface mixes the layers of water, and the surface layer is
cooler as well.
On an intertidal rock platform organisms are exposed to terrestrial and
aquatic conditions daily. They must be able to cope with temperature extremes
as the temperature on intertidal rock platforms in NSW can change from 10C
to 20C in 24 hours. In other parts of the world the sea is never less than
0.2C but the intertidal area may be as low as 40C.
Figure 1.2.7 Whether

these eggs of the
green turtle Chelonia
mydas will be male or
female depends on the
temperature of the nest
Availability of gases, water and ions

Both oxygen and carbon dioxide are found in the
atmosphere and in water. In the atmosphere, their
amounts decrease with altitude, meaning more gas
is available for organisms lower in the atmosphere.
In water, the amount of these gases decreases with
increasing depth of water and rising temperature.
Turbulence, such as that produced in white-water
rapids, dissolves more gas into the water. The
availability of oxygen in water is much less than
that on land. Oxygen is necessary for animals
and plants to produce energy by respiration, and
carbon dioxide is required by plants to produce Figure 1.2.8 Plants absorb
glucose by photosynthesis.
carbon dioxide and light to
In terrestrial environments water is so scarce photosynthesise plant food
that if you lived on land you would have biological
and physiological adaptations to ensure water
conservation and survival. In central Australia, domesticated animals such as
sheep will perish during drought. Native animals such as the spinifex hoppingmouse Notomys alexis (see figure 1.4.6), however, will survive by producing
water when metabolising food. They also produce very concentrated urine,
15
BioiNFo
Mass fish deaths in
Sydney
During warm weather many

fish die in Sydneys rivers,
creeks and lagoons. This
is due to oxygen depletion
caused by decomposing
garden waste (which has
washed into waterways) at
these higher temperatures.
Figure 1.2.9 Drought in

central NSW
Figure 1.2.10 Some

mangroves have adapted to
high salt concentrations by
concentrating and excreting
salt from salt glands in their
leaves
16
and their nocturnal habits mean they are active when it is cooler. Plants also
have many features to stop water loss, allowing them to survive long periods
without rain.
Aquatic animals have no problem with water supply but do have to deal
with salt and water balance. They do this by osmosis. For example, water will
enter freshwater fish because their body fluids are saltier than the surrounding
water. In contrast, water will leave saltwater fish because the surroundings
have a greater salt concentration, and the fish could dehydrate. This is why
saltwater fish need to drink much sea water while freshwater fish produce
copious dilute urine.
Ions also affect the life of animals and plants living in water. Ions are charged
particles such as sodium, potassium and magnesium, and are needed for many
body functions. They are dissolved in water, so they are freely available to
organisms in marine environments. Freshwater environments have a lower
concentration of ions. Aquatic plants absorb ions directly from the water into
their cells or through their roots.
Ions are also found in the water in soil. Plants on land obtain ions from soil
by absorbing them through their roots. When ions are in short supply, plant
growth is compromised. When too many ions are present in soil, such as in
highly saline soils around the MurrayDarling Basin, water will leave the roots
and plants will die. Only those plants that can cope with very salty water (with
a high concentration of ions in it), like mangroves and salt-marsh plants, will
thrive in these environments.
Animals get ions from eating food and drinking water. In aquatic environ
ments, the concentration (amount) of ions inside and outside organisms
may differ, so they must have coping mechanisms for survival. For example,
saltwater animals have to get rid of excess salt. They do this by excreting saltconcentrated urine. Freshwater fish produce very dilute urine and their kidneys
retain salt.
Light penetration
Without light, plants cannot photosynthesise to produce food for growth.
Plants are also needed to create oxygen and to provide food. On land, light is
freely available except in densely vegetated forests, caves, and after volcanic
ioiNFo
Abiotic factors influence

spider web decoration
At high temperatures insects
are more active and are
more likely to be caught in
spider webs than at lower
temperatures. The orb-web
spider Argiope keyserlingi
increases its web decoration
at low temperatures and
light intensity. This may be
to attract more insect prey,
or to signal its presence to
oncoming birds to avoid web
damage.
eruptions and dust storms due to increased particulate matter in the air. When
light penetrates water, colours are filtered with increasing depth. Red, orange
and yellow wavelengths are absorbed first, while blue and green remainso
all objects appear blue-green at depth. Plants use different pigments in water
to absorb the different wavelengths of light, and the energy absorbed is passed
on to chlorophyll, making photosynthesis possible. With increased depth, light
availability decreases and photosynthesis ceases.
01039
Figure 1.2.11 Light penetration decreases
during dust storms due to increased particles
in the atmosphere
Figure 1.2.12 The web of

the orb-web spider is more
decorative in low light and
temperatures
3m
5m
10 m
red
orange
yellow
green
Algae
20 m
25 m
blue
violet
30 m
Figure 1.2.13 Different coloured light rays penetrate to different depths in water. Algae
have pigments in addition to chlorophyll to absorb these different wavelengths. Most
algae can only photosynthesise down to a depth of about 30 metres.
17
ioiNFo
Raptures of the deep
Humans are not adapted to

survive under high pressure.
When scuba diving, a too
rapid ascent can cause the
bends, where nitrogen gas
comes out of solution in the
blood and forms bubbles
that can block blood vessels.
This phenomenon is called
nitrogen narcosis (or
raptures of the deep) and
can cause hallucinations and
crazy behaviour that often
puts the divers life at risk.
Pressure variation
In aquatic environments, the density of water causes pressure to increase rapidly
with increasing depth. Molluscs (snails, slugs and octopuses), crustaceans
(crabs, crayfish and prawns) and fish that are sensitive to pressure changes
cannot survive at great depths. All aquatic species have features enabling them
to survive at particular depths. Fish have swim bladders, a bag of gas that
allows them to change their buoyancy depending on their depth. If deep-sea
fish are brought to the surface too quickly, their swim bladders may burst or
expand into their mouths.
In the terrestrial environment, pressure will decrease with altitude, which
can significantly affect gas exchange. At high altitudes, such as high mountain
terrain, oxygen is in short supply which may cause altitude sickness. In such
low oxygen environments you might quarrel, laugh, show poor judgment and
experience nausea or even death. Luckily these symptoms gradually disappear
as your body becomes acclimatised. In oxygen-enriched environments, such
as hyperbaric chambers for treatment of the bends, divers may experience
oxygen poisoning where they convulse and become paralysed.
PRoFILE of a nsw ScientIst
Associate Professor Iain Suthers: a marine biologist and his work
Iain Suthers is Director of the Fisheries and Marine

Environmental Research Laboratories in the School of
Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the
University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the author
of many publications on fisheries biology. Iains current
interests and research involve biological oceanography
(tide and current patterns affecting larval supply of fish),
early life history of fish (growth, feeding, distribution,
condition), fisheries, estuaries and ecology of plankton.
He specialises in:
b determining the condition, or health, of larval fish in
the ocean
b showing that physical mechanisms are related to
plankton blooms in coastal and estuarine systems
Figure 1.2.14
Iain Suthers
behind the wheel
of the Zodiac
inflatable on Wallis
Lake, NSW
18
b determining the distribution and abundance of

zooplankton
b determining the nutrient sources of fish and
plankton by utilising the stable isotopes of carbon,
nitrogen and sulfur
b the age and growth of commercial fish
b the relationship of physical mechanisms to numbers
of fish
b fish stock enhancement.
To find out more about Iains research interests
access the following website: www.famer.unsw.edu.
au/iain.htm
Figure 1.2.15
Staff and students
from UNSW and
NSW Fisheries
(now Department of
Primary Industries)
working on a
mulloway restocking
project
Physical forces
Physical forces such as wind, rain, tides and currents can also affect organisms
and determine their location. For example, wind is necessary for seed dispersal
in some plants. Also, wind, currents and waves are important in dispersing the
larvae of many aquatic animals. Large numbers of larvae of the honeycomb
barnacle C. tasmanica (see figure 1.1.2b) arrive on NSW rocky shores on, or
close to, new and full moons when southerly winds are strong (3.66.8 metres
per second) and when waves are high (1.21.8 metres). Bluebottles are also
often seen on NSW beaches when north-easterly winds blowyou may even
have had a very painful encounter with the stinging cells from their long blue
tentacles.
Review: 1.2 Terrestrial and aquatic environments

Key terms
abiotic
buoyancy
light
photosynthesis
temperature
water
aquatic
gases
osmosis
pressure
terrestrial
xylem
Main points
i Abiotic factors include viscosity, buoyancy,
temperature variation, availability of gases, water
and ions, light penetration, pressure variation,
natural physical forces, shelter, space
Revision questions
1 Account for adventurers taking oxygen cylinders

with them when they climb Mount Everest.
2 Describe what you would have to do to make a
turtle egg hatch a male or a female turtle.
3 Explain why whales cant walk on land.
biotic
ions
physical forces
respiration
viscosity
4 Explain why you dont see giant mosses.
5 Explain why dolphins can go faster than the fish
they chase.
6 Explain why wombats arent shaped like
dolphins.
7 Clarify how jellyfish maintain their shape in water.
8 Explain why deserts have greater temperature
variations than aquatic habitats.
9 Explain how saltwater organisms get rid of
excess salt.
10 Explain why a swimming kangaroo would be more
buoyant in salt than in freshwater.
Unit 1.3 Estimating populations

Students learn to/Students:
1a process and analyse information obtained from a variety of sampling studies to

justify the use of different sampling techniques to make population estimates
when total counts cannot be performed
2.1 examine trends in population estimates for some plant and animal species within
an ecosystem
2a choose equipment or resources and undertake a field study of a local terrestrial or
aquatic ecosystem to identify and measure data sources
2c process and analyse information and present a report of the investigation of an
ecosystem
19
Populations consist of groups of individuals of the same species in an area.

Their numbers are continually changing and are determined by:
V birth
V death
V immigration (organisms moving into a population)
V emigration (organisms moving out of the population).
Sampling techniques
If you went into an ecosystem how
would you estimate the number of
01048
individuals in a population and how they are distributed in the environment?
Sampling techniques can help you identify two factors about a population:
V abundancethe number of individuals of a particular species in a unit
area
V distributionthe area(s) where the organism is found.
Alpine
Subalpine
Montane
Montane
Summit
Snow gums
Alpine ash
Mixed eucalypt forest
Open eucalypt
woodland
Figure 1.3.1 Sampling

techniques were used to
produce this map of the
vertical distribution of
snow gums and other alpine
vegetation in Kosciuszko
National Park
You can easily count the number of barnacles on a shore and the number
of trees in a designated area (if areas are small) because they do not move.
Other organisms, however, are mobile and population numbers are constantly
changing. This makes it difficult to determine the abundance and distribution
of these groups of organisms.
It is not usually feasible to do total counts of individuals in populations,
because of time and cost limitations associated with large-scale areas. Time and
money can be factors that limit the recording of every individual in populations
in large tracts of land, even if we were only concerned with measuring immobile
species such as trees and shrubs. Therefore the abundance and distribution of
populations is usually estimated from measurements recorded in a defined small
area that is extrapolated to known large areas within ecosystems. Numbers
of individuals of species in these small areas are sampled randomly and are
considered to be representative of the larger areas. Techniques for sampling
are varied.
20
Table 1.3.1 Techniques of sampling

Sampling technique
Example of organisms sampled
pitfall traps
lizards, small mammals
mist nets
birds, bats
cages
small mammals
hair tubes
quolls
calls
birds and mammals such as koalas
scats and tracks
mammals such as kangaroos and echidnas
observations (e.g. video recordings)
birds, fish, mammals
hydrophones
fish, marine mammals
plankton traps
larvae of various marine organisms
quadrats
slow-moving and stationary animals such

as snails and barnacles; easily detectable
species; plants; may be used in aquatic and
terrestrial environments
transects
slow-moving and stationary animals such as

snails and barnacles; plants; may be used in
aquatic and terrestrial environments
Data collected from these methods can give an estimate of numbers of

existing individuals and are used to plot distributions, often indicated on maps.
These sampling techniques are valuable tools for conservation management of
threatened species.
Figure 1.3.2 Tracks,

scats and distribution
(throughout Australia and
large offshore islands,
including King, Flinders
and Kangaroo Islands) of
the short-beaked echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
Source: Image supplied courtesy of Environmental

Protection Agency, Queensland
21
ioiNFo
Manly bandicoots
Dr Peter Banks from UNSW

is currently setting traps
for bandicoots in peoples
backyards in Manly, NSW, to
get an estimate of numbers
of these marsupials in urban
versus bushland areas.
He has also fitted these
marsupials with miniature
radio transmitters to
enable them to be tracked.
Data obtained will provide
information on habitat,
distribution, food, mortality,
competition and reproduction.
It appears that bandicoots
migrate from bushland into
adjacent urban areas where
they become vulnerable to
predation by domestic pets or
become roadkill.
Transects and quadrats

Quadrats (= replicates) are defined areas to be sampled so that populations
of organisms can be estimated. Transects are lines along which organisms are
counted in order to estimate population size. Transects and quadrats can be
used in combination, or quadrats can be used alone when placed in random
spots in an area to be sampled. Plants and immobile and easily detected
animals are sampled from within quadrats that vary in size according to the
subject being sampled. For example, on intertidal rocky shores such as Long
Reef, NSW, (see figure 1.2 on page 4) small species of snails and barnacles are
observed so 0.5m 0.5m quadrats (replicates) are normally used to quantify
(count) them. When larger species such as trees are being sampled, appropriate
larger quadrats will be used. To estimate the population, at least two quadrats
(n = 2) are used to sample populations at any given time; the mean of these
samples (where n = number of samples, quadrats or replicates) is an estimate
that represents the total sample area.
When a rocky shore profile is required, you should randomly choose a
strip of land, or transect, from high shore to low shore and lay a tape on the
substratum (the ground) to highlight this area. At regular intervals you should
01050
place quadrats on either side of the tape,
and the number (or percent cover) of
animals and plants should be identified and counted. Alternatively, intertidal
Upper shore
Random quadrats
Transects
Transect 1
Figure 1.3.3 The longnosed bandicoot Perameles

nasutafuture roadkill?
= 0.5 m
0.5 m
quadrat
Transect 2
3m
3m
6m
6m
9m
9m
12 m
12 m
15 m
15 m
100 m
100 m
n=2
Upper
Mid
Low
n=5
Low shore
Figure 1.3.4 Two different sampling techniques are used to quantify the numbers of
intertidal organisms on a rocky shore: transects (n = 2) versus random quadrats (n = 5).
At least two transects must always be done to account for spatial variation. n = number
of quadrats sampled at intervals such as every 3 m (when using transects), and for each of
Low, Mid and Upper areas (when using random quadrats). Each quadrat is 0.5m 0.5m.
22
organisms can be quantified with randomly thrown quadrats. That is, the
vertical shore should be divided into Low, Mid and Upper areas, quadrats
should be thrown randomly in each of these areas, and species abundance
and/or percent cover should be recorded. There will be much variation among
quadrats, as reflected by the observed characteristic patchy distributions (see
information on standard error bars in chapter 10), but the mean value of
quadrats for each area will represent that areas inhabitants.
Associate Professor Paul Adam: a dedicated plant ecologist

Paul Adam was awarded his BA from Cambridge
University and continued on to take his PhD in
1976. His thesis was on the plant communities of
intertidal saltmarsh in the British Isles. He took up a
lectureship in botany at UNSW in 1978, and is currently
an Associate Professor and Head of the School of
Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Figure 1.3.5 Paul Adam using a quadrat to measure

percent cover of seagrass at Double Bay in Sydneys
eastern suburbs, NSW
Pauls interests have been broad, encompassing

saltmarsh, seagrasses, heathland, rainforest and
urban bushland ecosystems. He has been particularly
interested in the management and conservation
of these ecosystems and has worked extensively
with government agencies and community groups.
Australia has a highly diverse biota, and its longterm conservation presents exciting challenges and
opportunities, which requires considerable input from
scientists. Since 1996, Paul has been a member of
the NSW Scientific Committee, established under
the Threatened Species Conservation Act, to make
decisions on which species, populations and ecological
communities are to be recognised as threatened in
NSW. Working at the intersection of science and policy
making has been a rewarding experience and increased
Pauls appreciation of the diversity and complexity of
our natural environment.
To find out more about Pauls research interests
access the following website: www.bees.unsw.edu.au/
school/staff/adam/adampaul.html
Capture-mark-recapture technique
Because many animals are highly mobile it is difficult to estimate population
numbers. The capture-mark-recapture technique is a popular method that you
may use to estimate abundance. It involves capturing a sample of the targeted
animal population, marking these in some way (paint, small adhesive tags,
clipping scales on snakes) and releasing them. Later, when the tagged animals
have dispersed back into the resident population, animals will be sampled
again, and the number of tagged and untagged (recaptured) animals recorded.
With this sampling method it is important to minimise stress to animals so
that they are unharmed and remain in the study area. The following formula
Figure 1.3.6 Scientists caught this native Australian bush rat Rattus
fuscipes in a trap. They tagged it and released it to estimate its abundance
in Seven Mile Beach National Park because they thought it was being
threatened by competition with the introduced black rat Rattus rattus.
23
is used to estimate the abundance of the population based on the idea that the
proportion of marked to unmarked individuals in the total population will be
repeated in the subsequent sampling.
number captured* number recaptured**
Total population =
number of tagged animals recaptured
* Number captured = Number caught on first day

** Number recaptured = Total number of tagged and untagged individuals caught
To increase accuracy it is often necessary to perform more than one repeat

sampling because mobile animals can migrate or hide. Performing only one
sampling may involve an underestimation of the population size and may not
be representative. For example, a simple capture-mark-recapture exercise (see
figure 1.3.7) over a few days was conducted in a garden in Frenchs Forest,
Sydney, to estimate the abundance of introduced snails Helix aspersa in
two birds nest ferns Asplenium australasicum, native to eastern Australian
rainforests. Snails captured on the first day (see table 1.3.2) were marked with
paint, counted and released. On subsequent days snails were resampled and,
from the data obtained,01052
the abundance of snails in each birds nest fern was
estimated.
Capture-mark-recapture technique
<1m
A
2m
2m
Figure 1.3.7 Two birds nest ferns A and B, 2 m across and < 1 m apart, were searched in a suburban Sydney garden for
introduced snails Helix aspersa
24
Table 1.3.2 Numbers of snails caught in birds nest ferns in a Sydney suburban garden
Birds nest fern A
Tag
15/02/2004
No tag
Birds nest fern B

Number
recaptured
Tag
*6
No tag
Number
recaptured
*6
16/02/2004
18/02/2004
11
13
19/02/2004
13
21/02/2004
Mean no.
recaptured
2.75
6.5
2.75
10
* = Number captured on first day, tagged and released
number captured, tagged and released mean number recaptured

Total population =

mean number of tagged animals recaptured

Total snails in birds nest fern A = 14.18 snails
Total snails in birds nest fern B = 21.82 snails
First-hand investigation 1.3.1

Outcomes
P11 identifies and implements

improvements to
investigation plans
P12 discusses the validity
and reliability of data
gathered from firsthand investigations and
secondary sources
P13 identifies appropriate
terminology and reporting
styles to communicate
information and
understanding in biology
P14 draws valid conclusions
from gathered data and
information
P15 implements strategies
to work effectively as an
individual or as a team
member
P16 demonstrates positive
values about and
attitudes towards both
the living and non-living
components of the
environment, ethical
behaviour and a desire
for a critical evaluation of
the consequences of the
applications of science
Different sampling techniques used to estimate

populations
Students:
1a process and analyse information obtained from a variety of sampling studies to

justify the use of different sampling techniques to make population estimates
when total counts cannot be performed
Introduction
Because it is often difficult to count all organisms in a population, particularly
if animals are highly mobile or well hidden, you could count numbers in small
sample areas. Then, estimations for the larger areas would be calculated from
these figures. For example, if two echidnas were recorded in 100 m2 of bush we
would expect to find four animals in a 200m2 area. Different sampling techniques
may also give different estimates for the same area the record of abundance in
quadrats at intervals along transects may be different from the numbers recorded
in randomly thrown quadrats. This study will therefore introduce and compare
some sampling techniques used to estimate numbers in populations.
For example, transects (quadrats at intervals along a line) and randomly
thrown quadrats are used to estimate slow organisms such as anemones
(anemones can actually move but very slowly) or sedentary organisms. You will
also see how the capture-mark-recapture method can be used to estimate mobile
species.
Remember that your experimental work should be reliable and valid. For it
to be reliable you must use more than one quadrat/replicate (n = 2 or more) to
ensure results are relatively consistent. For it to be valid it must test the stated
hypothesis (and, if you are doing a manipulated field experiment, rather than just
measuring abundance and distribution of natural populations, a control treatment
is needed to compare with the experimental treatment).
25
Transects and random quadrats

Aims
b To estimate percent cover of weeds on a school oval.
b To use two methods (transects versus random quadrats) to estimate percent
cover of weeds.
Hypotheses
b If the percent cover of populations of weeds is measured on a school oval, it is
predicted that there will be a greater abundance of weeds on either end than
in the middle of the oval.
b It is predicted that the different sampling methods will produce some different
estimates of percent cover of weeds.
Materials and methods

b
b
b
b
01053
0.5m 0.5m quadrats strung with 100 intersects of string

tape measure (20m)
clipboard
paper and pencil
Because you are just going to estimate the percent cover of all weeds on your
oval there is no real need to identify the weeds you are about to measure. You
may, however, be able to identify some common names such as clover or kikuyu
or bindiijust note that they are present.
Alternatively, you may decide to estimate particular weeds but this is a lot
more work! If you choose to do this you may like to get different groups in your
class to record percent cover for different weeds. Later in class you could pool
your data.
You will need, however, to know how to estimate percent cover of weeds. To
do this you will count the number of intersecting bits of string in your quadrat that
are just above any weeds. Because there are 100 intersects per quadrat, the total
number of these intersecting points above weeds will represent percent cover of
weeds.
Method: transects
Figure 1.3.8 The percent cover of weeds

under this 0.5m 0.5m quadrat is 8%
26
1 Measure length and breadth of oval. Calculate area of the

oval.
2 Note whether your oval is covered in grass or if there are
patches of dry dirt. Draw a diagram of your oval to indicate
this patchiness.
3 Look for weeds on the oval. Try to identify some. Draw one
weed species.
4 Run two transects along the length of the oval, placing each
at random (see figure 1.3.9).
5 Every 10m place the 0.5m 0.5m quadrat on either side of
the transect line and estimate percent cover of weeds in each
of these quadrats (n = 2).
6 Record your results in table 1.3.3.
7 For each transect, graph your results using bar graphs to
show mean percent cover of weeds (n = 2) every 10m. It is
probably better to enter your data from the two transects on
separate graphsyou may like to include both sets on the
one graph but this will be a bit messy and hard to read.
01054
Estimating percent cover of weeds on a school oval
T1
T1
A
T2
1. Transects
(T1, T2: n = 2 every 10 m)
T2
2. Random quadrats (A, B, C: n = 10 at random)
Figure 1.3.9 You may like to estimate percent cover of weeds on your oval using either of the following two
sampling techniques:
1. Transects: place two transects, T1 and T2, randomly along the length of the oval. Every 10m place one quadrat on
either side (n = 2) of the transect line and record percent cover of weeds in each quadrat.
2. Random quadrats: divide the oval into three sections, A, B and C. Randomly throw ten quadrats (n = 10) in each
of these areas and record percent cover of weeds in each.
Results: transects
Table 1.3.3 Percent cover of weeds along two transects on an oval using one quadrat either side of each line every
10m (n = 2)
Distance (m)
0m
10 m
20 m
30 m
40 m
50 m
Transect 1
Quadrat 1
Quadrat 2
Mean (n = 2)
Transect 2
Quadrat 1
Quadrat 2
Mean (n = 2)
Discussion questions: transects
1 Identify any patterns of percent cover of weeds observed along the oval.
2 If there were more weeds at the edges of the oval than in the middle, explain
this pattern.
27
3 Superimpose your bar graphs for Transect 1 and Transect 2. Identify whether
the results for Transect 1 and 2 were similar. If not, explain why.
4 Explain why you used two transects instead of one only.
5 Evaluate whether you should have used more than two transects.
6 Explain why you used randomly placed transects.
7 Evaluate whether you should have used more than two quadrats (n = 2) at
each 10m interval.
8 Try to explain the pattern of distribution of weed species that you recorded.
Method: random quadrats

1 Measure length and breadth of oval. Calculate area of the oval.
2 Note whether your oval is covered in grass or if there are patches of dry dirt.
Draw a diagram of your oval to indicate this patchiness.
3 Look for weeds on the oval. Try to identify some. Draw one weed species.
4 Divide the oval into three sections, A, B and C. Randomly throw ten quadrats
(n = 10) in each of these areas and record percent cover of weeds in each
quadrat.
6 For each area of your oval, A, B and C, graph your results using bar graphs
to show mean percent cover of weedsyou will be able to put the three
bars (means for A, B and C) on the same graph using percent cover as your
dependent variable (y-axis).
Results: random quadrats

Table 1.3.4 Percent cover of weeds in three areas (A, B, C) of an oval using ten
quadrats in each area (n = 10)
Quadrat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Mean (n = 10)
A
% cover
B
% cover
Discussion questions: random quadrats
C
% cover
1 Identify any patterns of percent cover of weeds observed on the oval.

2 If there were more weeds at the edges of the oval than in the middle explain
this pattern.
3 Identify whether the results were similar for A, B and C. Explain any
differences.
4 Explain why three areas were used instead of one.
5 Evaluate whether you should have used more than three areas.
6 Explain why you used randomly placed quadrats.
28
7 Evaluate whether you should have used less than ten quadrats (n = 10) in
each area.
8 Try to explain the pattern of distribution of weed species that you recorded.
Discussion questions: transects versus random

quadrats
1 Compare the graphs for the different sampling techniques (transects versus
random quadrats). Identify whether the patterns for percent cover of weeds
are similar.
2 If there are obvious differences in percent cover of weeds for the different
sampling techniques (transects versus random quadrats) evaluate whether
this could be due to the different numbers of quadrats used.
3 Identify other organisms that could be sampled using these techniques.
Capture-mark-recapture method
Aim
b To estimate the abundance of some invertebrates in your school grounds.
01055
Hypothesis
b If organisms are captured, tagged, released and then recaptured later, the
total population size can be estimated because the proportion of marked
individuals that are recaptured should be repeated in subsequent samplings.
Materials
b
b
b
b
b
b
small paintbrush
non-toxic waterproof paint
petri dishes
tape measure (20m)
clipboard
paper and pencil
Method
Figure 1.3.10 Marking an ant
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Before you start your study you will need to search your school
grounds for appropriate organisms that can be used in a capturemark-recapture exercise. You may choose to estimate small
invertebrates such as slaters, spiders, ants, snails or earwigs.
Search your school grounds and choose an invertebrate to study.
Choose two study areas.
Measure the length and breadth of these two study sites; calculate their
areas.
Capture all individuals that you see and mark them with paint.
Record the numbers caught and release them near where you found them.
Next day search your study areas againcatch any tagged and untagged
individuals and record their numbers.
Estimate the size of the population using the formula:
number captured, tagged and released number recaptured
Total population =

number of tagged animals recaptured
8 Estimate how many invertebrates you would expect to find in every m2.
29
Results
Table 1.3.5 Numbers of invertebrates in school grounds
Study area 1 = m2
Tag
no tag
First day
Second day
Number
recaptured
Study area 2 = m2
Tag
no tag
Number
recaptured
* = Number captured on first day, tagged and released
Discussion questions
1 Calculate the number of slaters/ants etc. that you found in your study areas.
2 Identify whether the number/m2 was different in the two study areas. Explain
your results.
3 Explain why two study sites were used.
4 Interpret your results. Assess whether the paint colour influenced population
numbers.
5 Interpret your results. Assess whether your presence influenced population
estimates.
6 Deduce whether the population estimates would have been different if you
had captured invertebrates on a third day.
7 Deduce whether the populations would be the same next week, or in two
months time. Explain.
8 Evaluate whether this method should be used to estimate the size of
barnacle populations.
9 Identify other animal populations that could be estimated with this method.
10 The type of tag you use is crucial to the successful estimation of abundance.
Describe how you would tag a goanna, a snake and a marine snail.
First-hand investigation 1.3.2

Outcomes
P4 describes applications
of biology which
affect society or the
environment
P7 describes the range
of organisms in terms
of specialisation for a
habitat
P8 analyses the
interrelationships of
organisms within the
ecosystem
P11 identifies and implements
improvements to
investigation plans
P12 discusses the validity
and reliability of data
gathered from firsthand investigations and
secondary sources
30
A local ecosystem: field study
Students:
2a choose equipment or resources and undertake a field study of a local terrestrial or

aquatic ecosystem to identify and measure data sources
ecosystem
Figure 1.3.11 A field

study of an aquatic
ecosystem
P13 identifies appropriate

terminology and reporting
styles to communicate
information and
understanding in biology
P14 draws valid conclusions
from gathered data and
information
P15 implements strategies
to work effectively as an
individual or as a team
member
P16 demonstrates positive
values about and
attitudes towards both
the living and non-living
components of the
environment, ethical
behaviour and a desire
for a critical evaluation of
the consequences of the
applications of science
Introduction
You are required to do a field study of a local terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem.
This involves observations at the field site, collection of data on site, and
interpretation of these data using tabled and graphed results. You may be
collecting various types of data. It is mandatory that you measure abiotic
variables to help you describe relationships between organisms and their physical
environment. For example, high temperatures determine the upper limits of
distribution of organisms on rocky shores. Biotic factors have an even greater
influence: the lower limits of distribution on intertidal areas are determined
by biological factors such as competition for food and space, or the numbers
of larvae in the water column arriving to start their adult lives in a new area.
Nevertheless, cyprid larvae of the honeycomb barnacle Chamaesipho tasmanica
are influenced by new and full moons and rely on other abiotic factors such
as wind speed, wave height and wind direction to propel them onto NSW rocky
shores.
You must also use sampling techniques, such as transects or random
quadrats, to estimate the size of a plant population and of an animal population.
Your data may show obvious patterns or they may show that populations have
patchy distributions. Therefore it is necessary, when sampling, to duplicate study
areas (such as using two transects) and to make sure that you use more than
one quadrat to sample a population in each study area. That is, you should use
the average (mean) of these data or your data will not reflect what is really going
on in your ecosystem.
Also, your sampling should always be random and you should not look where
you are throwing your quadrat. For example, when estimating the size of barnacle
populations on a rocky shore, or of moss on a boulder in a national park, you
should not choose to place your quadrat over a piece of bare rock devoid of
organisms just because it is easier. When sampling, it is a good technique to
throw the quadrat back over your shoulder.
While you are recording data (for example, counting numbers in quadrats)
you should observe and think about the animals and plants you are sampling.
Observations are very important in helping you to think about patterns and their
causes. Your observations (these include information from references) will help
you to describe two trophic (feeding) interactions.
You also should use appropriate reference books, and journal articles if you
can find them, to give you information that will help you to explain some of your
observations and data sets. (Internet articles can also be used but these are
often inaccurateanyone, not necessarily experts, can set up a website. Journal
articles are best because they are reviewed by experts.) A written report of your
field study is also required.
Although the field study below is of an animal and of a plant* population on
an intertidal rock platform ecosystem, you can easily estimate populations in
terrestrial and other aquatic ecosystems instead (for example, alpine areas, sand
dunes, rainforest, heath, beaches, freshwater creeks). Similar scientific methods
apply.
Studying abiotic factors in an intertidal ecosystem

Aims
b To measure temperature and height on an intertidal rock platform.
b To relate these abiotic data to the distribution of organisms.
b To estimate the size of a plant* population and an animal population in an
intertidal ecosystem.
31
*Note that, although NSW Board of Studies Stage 6 Syllabus dot points require
an estimation of plant populations, algae are classified in the Kingdom Protista
not Kingdom Plantae.
Figure 1.3.12
a) Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii
b) Blue snail Littorina unifasciata
Hypothesis
b If temperature and height on an intertidal rocky shore are measured there will
be a relationship between these physical data and distribution on the shore of
Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii and the blue snail Littorina unifasciata.
Materials
b
b
b
b
b
0.5m 0.5m quadrats strung with 100 intersects of string

tape measure (20m)
clipboard
paper and pencil
100C thermometer (temperature)
Method: relationship between height on the shore and

distribution
1 Using your tape measure, randomly place two transects at right angles to the
sea from the edge of the rock platform to the upper limit.
2 Every 10 m place the 0.5m 0.5m quadrat on either side of the transect line:
record percent cover of Neptunes necklace (see figure 1.3.12a) and numbers
of blue snails (see figure 1.3.12b) in each of these quadrats (n = 2).
4 For each transect, graph your results using bar graphs to show mean percent
cover of algae and mean numbers of blue snails (n = 2) every 10m. Because
you will have a lot of data it is better to enter your data from each of two
transects on separate graphs.
5 You also should plot data to determine whether there is a relationship
between the abiotic factor (independent variable, x-axis) and the distribution
of organisms (dependent variable, y-axis). To do this you will need to do two
scatter graphs, one showing the relationship between height on the shore
(x-axis) and percent cover (y-axis) of Hormosira, and the other showing the
relationship between height (x-axis) and numbers of Littorina (y-axis). A line
of best fit at an angle of approximately 45 indicates that there is a good
relationship.
32
6 Because animal and plant populations vary with time and seasons you
should repeat this sampling at another time to record and compare temporal
variation.
Results: relationship between height on the shore and

distribution
Table 1.3.6 Record of percent cover of Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii and of numbers of the blue snail
Littorina unifasciata at different heights on an intertidal rock platform. Data were recorded along two transects using
one 0.5m 0.5m quadrat (q1, q2) either side of each line every 10m (n = 2).
Height (m)
% cover Hormosira
Transect 1
q1
q2
Mean
Transect 2
q1
q2
Mean
No. of Littorina
Transect 1
q1
q2
Mean
Transect 2
q1
q2
Mean
0
10
20
30
40
50
Method: relationship between temperature and

distribution
1 You will first need to outline the two sites from which you will be recording
data. To do this, measure the vertical distance from the edge of the rock
platform at low shore to the upper limit. Then divide this vertical distance into
three sections and measure 20m across horizontally. These are your Low, Mid
and Upper areas for Site 1. About 20m away, depending on the size of your
rock platform, measure out a duplicate Site 2.
2 Randomly throw ten quadrats (n = 10) in each of these upper, mid and low
shore areas at Sites 1 and 2.
3 Place the thermometer randomly in each quadrat and record the temperature
(C).
4 Record the numbers of the blue snail Littorina unifasciata in each quadrat.
5 Record percent cover of Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii in each
quadrat.
7 Graph your results using bar graphs to show mean percent cover of algae
(n = 10) in each area (Low, Mid and Upper) in each of Sites 1 and 2you will
be able to put the six bars on the one graph using percent cover of algae as
your dependent variable (y-axis). Colour-code bar graphs for means at Sites 1
and 2 and place them together for each of Low, Mid and Upper levels.
8 Graph your results using bar graphs to show mean number of blue snails
(n = 10) in each area (Low, Mid and Upper) in each of Sites 1 and 2you
will be able to put the six bars on the one graph using mean number of blue
snails as your dependent variable (y-axis). Colour-code bar graphs for means
at Sites 1 and 2 and place them together for each of Low, Mid and Upper
levels.
33
9 You also should plot data to determine whether there is a relationship

between the abiotic factor (independent variable, x-axis) and the distribution
of organisms (dependent variable, y-axis). To do this you will need to do two
scatter graphs, one showing the relationship between temperature (x-axis)
and percent cover (y-axis) of Hormosira (n = 60) and the other showing the
relationship between temperature (x-axis) and numbers of Littorina (y-axis)
(n = 60). A line of best fit at an angle of approximately 45 indicates that
there is a good relationship.
10 Because animal and plant populations vary with time and seasons you
should repeat this sampling at another time to record and compare temporal
variation.
Results: relationship between temperature and

distribution
Table 1.3.7 Record of temperature (C), percent cover of Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii and of numbers
of the blue snail Littorina unifasciata in three areas (Low, Mid, Upper) in two sites (Sites 1, 2) on an intertidal rock
platform
Quadrat
Temp
(C)
Low
% cover
Hormosira
Site 1 Site 2
Mid
% cover
Hormosira
Site 1 Site 2
Upper
% cover
Hormosira
Site 1 Site 2
Low
No. of
Littorina
Site 1 Site 2
Mid
No. of
Littorina
Site 1 Site 2
Upper
No. of
Littorina
Site 1 Site 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Mean
(n = 10)
Discussion questions
1 Explain why you recorded data from two sites and from two transects.
2 Explain why you recorded replicate data, that is, from more than one quadrat.
3 Deduce whether there was a relationship between abiotic factors (temperature
and height on the shore) and the distribution of organisms.
4 Identify whether this relationship is positive or negative.
5 If there was no relationship, try to explain the patterns of distribution of
organisms that you observed.
6 Because some of your data were recorded in rock pools, evaluate whether you
should have measured percent cover of water as well.
7 Identify other factors (abiotic and biotic) that you think may influence
distributions of organisms in an intertidal ecosystem.
8 Describe two trophic (feeding) interactions that you may have observed on the
rock platform.
34
9 Blue snails are herbivores. Deduce whether their distribution is determined by

food available.
Writing your report
BioiNFo
Educating the public
at Long Reef Aquatic
Reserve
The Long Reef rock platform

in NSW is heavily used by
school groups and by the
general public. It has been
an Aquatic Reserve since
1980, and no intertidal
marine organisms, including
shells, can be taken from
Long Reef. Despite this, many
people still do not respect
the Long Reef ecosystem and
plunder it indiscriminately.
Locals often see lights
at night on the platform
when people poach turban
shells to eat. Others do not
realise that their dogs may
disturb birds on the reserve,
threatening their survival.
Recent concern about the
increased disturbance and
threat to marine organisms
at Long Reef has led to the
NSW Department of Primary
Industries and the Pittwater
Council Coastal Environment
Centre training fishcare
volunteers. As part of Project
Aware on the Rocks, the
volunteers help educate the
public about Long Reefs
marine biodiversity.
When you are out studying
your local ecosystem, please
remember to treat it with
respect!
Your field study report should contain:

b Title
b Abstracta brief summary of all your findings with some explanation of your
results.
b Aimwrite a brief statement of the purpose of your study, that is, what you
plan to do. You may have more than one aim.
b Hypothesisyou will need to predict what you expect to find in your field study.
This will be based on the initial observations that you made. For example,
when you first went to the rock platform you may have noticed that the nobbly
snail Noddilittorina pyramidalis only appeared to live on upper areas of the
shore. Therefore you would predict that, if you used quadrats to sample
organisms vertically along the shore from upper to lower levels, your data
would indicate that these snails would only be found on upper shores. You may
have more than one hypothesis.
b Materials and methodsdescribe in detail the methods you used when you
studied the abiotic features of your local ecosystem.
b Resultsall results should be entered in tables and graphed where possible.
Each of these must have a title and a number that will be referred to when
you describe your results in the text of your Results section, for example, sea
squirts were only found on low shores (table 1, figure 2).
b Discussionexplain your results by using information that you have gathered
from reference books or journal articles. You also should include conclusions.
b Bibliographythis is a list of references that you used to help you write your
report.
While the inclusion of a bibliography is mandatory you could also start citing
your references. That is, every time you use any information from your references
you must acknowledge your source. For example, Connell (1961) found that
two barnacle species on rocky shores in Scotland compete for space OR The
barnacle Semibalanus balanoides outcompetes the barnacle Chthamalus
stellatus so that Semibalanus is usually found on lower shores whereas
Chthamalus is found on upper shores (Connell, 1961).
Figure 1.3.13
a) Fishcare volunteers
b) Some of the marine organisms
volunteers show to the general public
35
Trends in population estimates
BioiNFo
Eating our national
emblem
Recent research has shown

that kangaroos have a healthy
form of fat, which helps fight
heart disease in rats and
may also do so in humans.
For years Professor Gordon
Grigg from the University
of Queensland (UQ) and
Professor Mike Archer from
UNSW have said people
should farm and eat the softfooted kangaroo rather than
the hard-hoofed domestic
cattle, which are contributing
to land erosion. What do you
think?
A long-term ecological study is a very important tool that is used to demonstrate

population dynamics over a long period of time. Previous studies have shown
that some species will have population sizes that remain relatively constant;
whereas others are not static and their sizes are continually changing as
determined by:
V birth
V death
V immigration (organisms moving into a population)
V emigration (organisms moving out of the population).
Growth-rates of populations will be positive when births increase, mortality
decreases and immigration increases so that population sizes will increase.
Conversely, growth-rates of populations will be negative when births decrease,
mortality increases and emigration increases so that population sizes will
decline.
The populations of many native Australian species are further compromised
by the presence of introduced (exotic) species that compete for resources
and often contribute to the demise of the indigenous species. Many of these
introduced pests are predators and native species have no natural defence and/
or live in narrow ranges of tolerance. This has led to many of our native species
becoming extinct. Ironically, kangaroo numbers have increased in line with the
increase in farming which provides more food (grass) and water. These numbers
are often large enough to cause problems for farmers. In addition, if they were
allowed to continue breeding unchecked, kangaroos would outcompete other
native species. Therefore, conservation and wildlife management includes
licensing contractors to cull kangaroos annually.
Figure 1.3.14 Kangaroos and sheep drink at Mulyungarie Station, south-west of Broken
Hill
36
Table 1.3.8 Some introduced animals and plants in Australia

Animals
horses
dogs
cattle
cats
rabbits
bulbuls
goats
common mynahs
pigs
cane toads
deer
European wasp
camels
dung beetle
foxes
fireants
water buffalo
Northern Pacific seastar
Plants
bitou bush
seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia
prickly pear
Agapanthus
pampas grass
Lantana
Populations on the increase

The following plant and animals have been under intense public scrutiny in
recent years. This is because some are iconic Australian species that are causing
problems that need to be dealt with, while others are introduced species that
have threatened (and are still threatening) Australias biodiversity.
Figure 1.3.15 The bitou

bush is taking over our
coast
Bitou bush
The South African bitou bush Chrysanthemoides monilifera was first introduced
to Australia in 1858. It was extensively planted along the NSW coast from
1946 to 1968 to stabilise sand dunes after sand mining. Because there are
no natural predators, bitou has outcompeted and overgrown the Australian
native species, such as wattles and grasses, and forms a thick cover along 80
per cent of the coast. Bitou influences the biodiversity of plants and animals
and can prevent other plant species from germinating. Current management
includes the use of biological controls (tip moth, seed fly and leaf-rolling moth),
herbicide, fire control and hand weeding aided by volunteer groups such as
Reefcare at Long Reef.
Killing koalas?
The koala Phascolarctos cinereus was killed in the millions in the 1920s for
the fur trade, prompting the introduction of 18 animals to Kangaroo Island,
South Australia, to prevent their extinction from disease, hunting and loss
of habitat. Now, however, a population explosion has led to a call to shoot
20000 starving koalas to put them out of their misery and to reduce damage
to eucalypts. This has been rejected by the SA state government to protect
the tourist trade. An earlier program to sterilise and translocate koalas was
disbanded in 2000 due to great expense.
Figure 1.3.16 The koala

Phascolarctos cinereusto
cull or not to cull?
Northern Pacific seastar

In the 1980s, larvae of the Northern Pacific seastar Asterias amurensis were
introduced into Tasmania in ship ballast water from Japanese ships arriving to
37
BioiNFo
Do crown-of-thorns
starfish populations
explode naturally?
In the late 1960s there was

much heated debate, led
by Dr Robert Endean at the
University of Queensland,
on the predicted destruction
of coral on the Great Barrier
Reef due to the crown-ofthorns starfish Acanthaster
planci. This seastar virtually
carpeted the reef in some
areas, eating coral polyps
and leaving swathes of dead
coral in its wake. At that time,
it was thought that starfish
numbers peaked because
female starfish produce over
a million eggs per season,
industrial development scared
away fish that normally preyed
on the eggs, and because
shell collectors targeted the
triton shell, Acanthasters
main predator. To combat
the problem, Endean and
his team collected and killed
many starfish. Numbers of
Acanthaster decreased over
the next two decades until
the 1990s when, surprisingly,
there was another huge
population increase. Research
then revealed that extra
nutrients such as nitrates and
phosphates, perhaps from
fertilisers, were washing into
the seaand starfish eat
the resulting phytoplankton
blooms. Scientific research
now indicates that coral
reefs will survive and recover
from severe infestations of
Acanthaster.
38
Figure 1.3.17 Northern

Pacific seastar Asterias
amurensis
collect cargoes of woodchip. Millions of yellow seastars are now widespread

in Tasmanian waters and in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria. It is expected that the
seastar will also establish in NSW waters via ships because their reproduction
is so prolific (20 million eggs per female): their larvae can live in the plankton
for approximately 90 days and therefore disperse widely, and they can tolerate
a range of temperatures and habitats. A. amurensis will eat virtually anything
from a smorgasbord of crabs, barnacles, sea urchins, worms, snails, bivalves,
sea squirts and other species of seastars, and is now the dominant predator in
the Derwent River. Current efforts to remove the problem seastars have failed
(tonnes of seastars have been physically removed) although NSW Fisheries
(in the Department of Primary Industries) is addressing this issue. Biological
control using the natural enemy, a unicellular ciliate which parasitises the
male testes, is not feasible because this ciliate readily attacks other species of
seastars.
Populations in decline
Mountain pygmy possum
The mountain pygmy possum Burramys parvus (see figure 1.1.8b) has a very
limited range of distribution, living in boulder fields and heath in alpine areas
of Kosciuszko National Park and at Mount Hotham in Victoria. It feasts on
bogong moths in summer to increase its body fat and ensure survival over
winter. Other food items include grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and the fruit
and seeds of the mountain plum-pine and mountain beard heath. This tiny
mouse-like marsupial stores food for winter and hibernateswhen its body
temperature drops to 6Cfor nearly 7 months each year. Prior to 1966,
it was only known from fossil remains and was thought to be extinct. It is
thought that there are only about 350 possums alive today.
Males and females live in separate groups, females outnumbering males six to
one and having the best living conditions: females live for about 10 years while
males only survive for 4 years, and females live in areas with more food and
shelter. The female possums only let males into their territories for breeding
six or more females for each maleand they banish males after mating occurs.
Each female produces about four young in November or December but not
many young survive. Threats to the survival of these animals include foxes,
feral cats, ski resorts and associated activities, and global warming. Currently,
global warming is considered to be a serious threat because thinner snow
provides less insulation in winter, and, in summer, temperatures exceeding
30C cause these possums to perish.
A few techniques have been successful in counteracting human impact on
populations of mountain pygmy possums in the snowfields. At Mount Blue
Cow, an artificial boulder field was made
to bridge habitats isolated by snow,
01065
and to enable possums to cross ski runs. At Mount Hotham, the ski resort has
isolated the male and female possum camps, so an under-road tunnel (a Tunnel
of Love) was built to allow males to access females once a year. Within 2
weeks of the tunnels construction, males were photographed running through
the tunnel towards the females camp.
Figure 1.3.18 Male

mountain pygmy possums
discover the tunnel of love
Figure 1.3.19 The southern corroboree frog Pseudophryne corroboree is

on the brink of extinction
The southern corroboree frog

The brightly coloured yellow-andblack-striped southern corroboree frog
Pseudophryne corroboree acts like a
beacon for predators looking for food.
In summer, this little (around 3cm)
frog is found crawling, not hopping,
in sphagnum moss near muddy bogs
in alpine areas of Kosciuszko National
Park. It lives in small groups: the
males build nests near water and call
to females, who respond 4 to 6 weeks
later. Females then enter the males
boudoirs and lay a small number of
39
eggs (1640) that are then fertilised. These eggs hatch into tadpoles that must
survive winter and wait for rain and melting snow so they can metamorphose
(change) into frogs. In autumn, adult frogs crawl to neighbouring woodlands
and survive winter under grass and logs. Pollution, cattle grazing, hydroelectric
works, roads, recreation, drying sphagnum bogs, bushfires and a sensitive lifehistory have combined over the past few years to influence frog numbers. It is
no wonder that this species is in decline.
BioiNFo
Reprieve for the green
and golden bell frog?
The green and golden bell frog

Litoria aurea, once common in
eastern NSW, declined in the
early 1980s and is now listed
as a threatened species. This
is because the introduced
mosquito fish Gambusia
holbrooki preys on L. aurea
tadpoles. A breeding program
of the green and golden bell
frog was initiated in a pond
on the Long Reef golf course
and has been successful.
Ongoing management will be
necessary to conserve this
species.
Figure 1.3.20 The green and golden bell frog Litoria aurea
Review: 1.3 Estimating populations

Key terms
abstract
bibliography
death
emigration
hypothesis
mortality
quadrat
replicate
sampling techniques
40
abundance
birth
discussion
estimate
immigration
percent cover
random
results
transect
aim
capture-mark-recapture
distribution
growth-rate
materials and methods
population
reference citation
sample
title
Main points
i Population numbers are always changing due to
i Distribution is the area that a species inhabits.

i It can be difficult to determine the abundance
birth, death, immigration and emigration.

i Abundance is the numbers of individuals of a
particular species in a unit area.
i Scientists estimate abundance and distribution
and distribution of mobile species.

of species with sampling techniques.
i A quadrat is an area of known size used to record

i
i
i
i
resident populations of plants and animals.

A transect is a randomly chosen strip on land or
underwater, representative of the local ecosystem
in which organisms are recorded at regular
intervals.
Scientists use different sampling techniques
(quadrats, transects, traps etc.) to estimate the
abundance of sedentary and mobile organisms in
populations.
The capture-mark-recapture technique can be
used to measure the abundance and distribution
of highly mobile organisms.
Growth-rates of populations can explode or
decline due to imbalances in birth, death,
immigration and emigration.
Populations of native Australian species can be
affected by introduced species.
Revision questions
1 Explain why there is a variety of sampling

techniques for estimating populations.
2 You used the capture-mark-recapture technique
to estimate the numbers of earwigs in your
schoolyard. On the first day you captured 6

earwigs in one area and 10 in another area.
The next day you found 8 (2 of these had paint
marks) in the first area and 6 (4 of these had
paint marks) in the second area. Calculate how
many earwigs live in each area sampled.
3 Identify the sampling technique you would use to
catch small lizards in the Simpson Desert.
4 When you were on school camp you found lots of
kangaroo scats next to a dam. Account for this.
5 Identify the quadrat size usually used to estimate
numbers of snails on an intertidal rock platform.
Assess when you would use a smaller one.
6 If there were lots of herbivorous snails on a rock
platform, predict whether you would expect to
find lots of algae.
7 Account for the measurement of percent cover of
algae or weeds rather than recording abundance.
8 Identify the diet of the blue snail L. unifasciata.
9 Critically analyse why some scientists say that
kangaroos should be farmed instead of cattle.
10 Identify two introduced animals and plants that
have influenced numbers of Australian native
fauna (animals) and flora (plants).
Unit 1.4 Processes in ecosystems

Students learn to:
1.2 identify the factors determining the distribution and abundance of a species in
each environment
1.3 describe the roles of photosynthesis and respiration in ecosystems
1.5 identify the general equation for aerobic cellular respiration and outline this as a
summary of a chain of biochemical reactions
Factors determining abundance and distribution

Examples of trends in population increase or decline of animals and plants
have been discussed previously. Populations can explode or decline due to
imbalances in birth, death, immigration and emigration. What determines these
changes? What factors determine the abundance or numbers of individuals of
a particular species in a unit area? Also, what determines the distribution or
area that a species inhabits?
Factors that influence the abundance and distribution of these populations
include:
V competition (within and among species for food, space, shelter and mates)
V disease
41
ioiNFo
Freshwater flooding kills

sea urchins in Botany Bay
Flooding of the Georges River
into Botany Bay in 1986 and
1988 caused sudden mass
mortality of the sea urchin
Centrostephanus rodgersii
at Bare Island. This was due
to a sudden decrease in
salinity; consequently there
was a huge increase in foliose
algae covering subtidal rocks,
which are normally covered
only by encrusting algae and
called the barrens habitat.
However, juvenile sea urchins
rapidly recruited into these
areas and grazed on the algae
so that the barrens habitat
was soon restored.
V predation
V availability of food and water
V fecundity (reproductive rate).
Many so-called stable populations will be sensitive to seasonal fluctuations

associated with availability of food and water. On land, plant growth will be
particularly influenced by drought and low temperatures, which in turn affects
animals further along the food chain. Other physical (abiotic) factors that can
affect abundance and distribution of populations of organisms include:
V light
V pressure
V wind
V water currents
V waves and tides
V availability of oxygen
V salinity
V pH.
In terrestrial and aquatic environments certain factors determine the
distribution and abundance of a species. The animals and plants that live in a
local ecosystem will be there due to existing features. Go down to your local
creek, dam or estuary and observe the most common animals and plants that
live in the water and on the ground nearby. List the features of this area that
you think may be important for the continued survival of its inhabitants.
Remember that any organisms that are adapted to a narrow range of
localised conditions will show a sudden decline in population numbers with
any abrupt change in their environment. Case studies of an aquatic and a
terrestrial species are included below. What determines where they live? What
would cause an increase or a decrease in numbers?
Abundance and distribution of an aquatic species

Figure 1.4.1 The sea
urchin Centrostephanus
rodgersii is the dominant
sea urchin in shallow water
along the coast of NSW
The freshwater crocodile

The freshwater crocodile Crocodylus johnstoni lives in northern Australia
usually in freshwater creeks, swamps and billabongs. Competition with the
saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus drives it from saltwater habitats to
fresh water, where it lies in wait for its food. Young freshies eat small fish and
NT
QLD
WA
Figure 1.4.2
The freshwater
crocodile
Crocodylus
johnstoni and its
distribution
42
SA
NSW
VIC
TAS
BioiNFo
Dugongs in Botany Bay
Along the Mary River near

Gympie, Queensland,
much land once covered by
rainforest was cleared during
the goldrush of the 1860s.
Now this land is maintained
as pasture for dairy farms,
making it susceptible to
erosion after heavy rains,
resulting in sediments
washing into Hervey Bay.
Dugongs (sea cows) are large
herbivorous marine mammals
that normally frequent the
warm waters of Queensland,
Papua New Guinea and
Vanuatu. In 1992, dead
and starving dugongs were
found in Botany Bay. These
mammals had migrated south
from Hervey Bay looking for
seagrasses to eat, because
sedimentation from the
flooding Mary River had
smothered seagrasses there,
depriving them of their food
source.
invertebrates, such as insects and freshwater crayfish, whereas adults will also
eat frogs, birds, bats and snakes.
After a July courtship, in August females dig nest holes in sandy river banks
where approximately 13 eggs are laid per nest. These eggs incubate for about
80 days when they are susceptible to predation by water pythons, long-necked
tortoises, birds, goannas, feral pigs and other crocodiles. Temperature will
determine the sex of each crocodile (see Bioinfo on page 15). Females practise
extended parental care by opening eggs if emerging juveniles are having
difficulty hatching, by carrying hatchlings to water, and by staying with their
young for several weeks.
Hatchlings may be cannibalised by adults or they may be preyed on by
birds, large fish, saltwater crocodiles and tortoises. Female freshies will be
sexually mature at 1114 years, while males will be at 1617 years. Freshwater
crocodiles live for about 50 years, males reaching 3 metres in size and females
2 metres.
Figure 1.4.3
The sea cow
Dugong dugon
feeds on seagrasses
in Qld, PNG and
Vanuatu

Dr Jane Williamson: a dynamic marine ecologist
Jane Williamson is a young and energetic marine

ecologist who was awarded her PhD at UNSW, primarily
on research into settlement and metamorphosis of
larvae of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurascens.
Prior to this she obtained a Master of Science at the
University of Auckland, New Zealand, from research
into relationships between algae and the barnacle
Chamaesipho columna. Recently, Jane began a
lectureship in Marine Science at Macquarie University,
Sydney for their new Bachelor of Marine Science. She
is in charge of the Marine Ecology Group, where her
research focuses on life histories of many marine
invertebrates and vertebrates, with a particular
Figure 1.4.4 Jane Williamson at work
43
emphasis on plantherbivore interactions and

aquaculture. Janes current research projects include:
b the effect of chemical cues from marine algae on
settlement and metamorphosis of marine herbivores
b ecology of marine plantanimal interactions
b aquaculture of Australian edible sea urchins
b population genetics of sea urchins
b deformities in cultured snapper and barramundi
b larval supply of the honeycomb barnacle
C. tasmanica in relation to shore exposure.
To find out more about Janes research interests
access the following website: www.bio.mq.edu.au/
marine_ecology/jane.htm
Figure 1.4.5 Newly metamorphosed
larvae of the sea urchin Heliocidaris
erythrogramma
Abundance and distribution of a terrestrial species

The spinifex hopping-mouse
The nocturnal spinifex hopping-mouse Notomys alexis inhabits arid central
Australia, where it shelters during the day in deep humid burrows. Hoppingmice usually do not drink waterat night they forage for a variety of foods
including shoots, roots, seeds and insects, from which they produce water as
they metabolise. They survive by excreting very concentrated urine and by
remaining in burrows during the heat of the day.
These rodents live in small groups of about ten per burrow. Males use neck
glands to mark their territories and other members of the group. Neck glands
are only active in females when they are pregnant and lactating, probably to
mark newborn young. Females can give birth from three months and litters
of about four young are usually born after rain, in association with increased
vegetation. Parental care is practised and young are usually weaned at one
month. Adults can live for about four years.
Figure 1.4.6 The spinifex

hopping-mouse Notomys
alexis and its distribution
44
BioiNFo
Why do flying foxes stay
in Sydney?
Grey-headed flying foxes (fruit

bats) Pteropus poliocephalus
are normally nomadic,
migrating to follow food
sources such as eucalypt
and paperbark blossoms
and Moreton Bay figs. In
Sydney, however, flying foxes
aggregate in Gordon and the
Botanic Gardens and do not
migrate at all. This is because
there is a varied and constant
supply of food in Sydney
throughout the year due to
introduced plants from other
parts of Australia and from
other countries.
BioiNFo
What is a drongo?
The black and glossy

spangled drongo Dicrurus
hottentottus is a bird that is
considered to be very mixed
up and stupidduring winter
some migrate from the tropics
to the colder areas around
Sydney!
Figure 1.4.7 The normally nomadic grey-headed flying fox Pteropus poliocephalus is
perfectly happy staying in Sydneys Botanic Gardensit has all the food, shelter and
mates it needs to survive
Photosynthesis and respiration

Photosynthesis is essential for lifeplants collect light energy from the sun
and use it to convert carbon dioxide into glucose (sugar) stored as complex
carbohydrates like starch. All chemical energy in plants is essentially derived
from photosynthesis. In this process, the energy from sunlight is captured by
the green chlorophyll pigments found in a plant cells chloroplasts. This energy
allows carbon dioxide and water to combine to produce glucose (sugar) and
oxygen. Plants are therefore called producers because in photosynthesis they
produce chemical energy or nutrients for other organisms. Plants are also called
autotrophs because they are virtually self-feeders during photosynthesis. Some
bacteria are also autotrophs although they practise chemosynthesis instead.
Photosynthesis is a complex process involving many enzymes. However, it
01080
can be summarised by the simple word equation below. In some texts, water is
shown as a product of photosynthesis.
carbon dioxide + water
chlorophyll
glucose + oxygen
light
45
Plants make glucose, and animals need glucose, because they all need energy
molecules (adenosine triphosphateATP) to grow, to reproduce, for repair
and maintenance, to synthesise complex molecules and to transport nutrients.
Glucose can be transformed in plants and in animals by several chemical
reactions collectively called cellular respiration. Respiration makes energy
01081
available to cells so they can function.
While most of this energy is used, some
chemical energy will be converted and lost as heat.
Respiration is a very complex process involving many enzymes. However,
again you can summarise it simply using the word equation below:
glucose + oxygen
BioiNFo
Whats that smell?
When you walk past a

mangrove swamp you can
often smell rotten egg gas
(hydrogen sulfide). Because
there is no oxygen available
in mud for respiration, this
smelly gas is produced from
the sulfur in the mud by
chemosynthetic bacteria.
carbon dioxide + water + energy (ATP)
When you look at the word equations for photosynthesis and respiration it
appears as if one process is the other in reverse. This, however, is not the case
because neither equation reveals the many enzymes or reactions involved. In
fact, each process has different biochemical reactions. Photosynthesis captures
light and transforms it into chemical energy (glucose converted to and stored
as starch) that is used in respiration for cellular functions. Digestion is essential
for transforming plant starches and complex carbohydrates into glucose when
a herbivore eats plants. If eaten by a carnivore this animal may then pass on its
stored chemical energy. Therefore energy flows through ecosystems so that life
is sustained at all feeding levels within it.
Review: 1.4 Processes in ecosystems

Key terms
abundance
burrow
chloroplast
distribution
feeding level
immigration
migration
parental care
predation
rodent
temperature
waves
autotroph
carnivore
competition
emigration
food
lactating
nest
pH
pressure
salinity
tides
wind
Main points
i Abundance is the number of individuals of a
particular species in a unit area.
i Distribution is the area that a species inhabits.
46
availability of oxygen
cellular respiration
death
excreting
food chain
light
nocturnal
photosynthesis
producer
shelter
water
birth
chlorophyll
disease
fecundity
herbivore
mates
nomadic
population
recruit
space
water currents
i The abundance and distribution of populations

is influenced by biotic and abiotic factors
which affect birth, death, emigration and
immigration.
i Biotic factors include competition (within and
i
i
i
i
i
i
among species for food, space, shelter and

mates), disease, predation, availability of food
and fecundity.
Abiotic factors include light, pressure, wind, water
currents, waves and tides, availability of oxygen,
water, salinity, temperature and pH.
Sudden declines in populations can occur with
any sudden change in the environment.
Producers (plants) make glucose when sunlight is
captured during photosynthesis.
During respiration glucose is used for cellular
functions.
While summary equations for photosynthesis and
respiration indicate they are reverse processes,
they are very different at the biochemical level.
Photosynthesis and respiration are essential
processes that allow energy to flow through
ecosystems.
Revision questions
1 Research the internet for information on an

Australian plant and animal. Describe each and
identify its distribution.
2 Do you have many slugs in your garden? Describe

their habitat and identify what they eat.
3 Do you have ring-tail and brush-tail possums
visiting your house at night? Describe where you
think they live. Identify what they eat.
4 Identify birds that live near you. List those
that you see on the weekend. Next week make
another list. Are the birds the same each time?
5 In NSW there has been a severe drought over
the past few years and now there are water
restrictions. Identify plants in your garden that
look like they have coped better than others.
6 Explain why residents have been asked to leave
buckets of water under trees in koala areas.
7 Distinguish trees in your garden that attract
birds.
8 Explain why freshwater fish sometimes come to
the surface to breathe.
9 Examine whether aquatic plants
photosynthesise. Describe the process.
10 Explain why intertidal snails are like sheep or
lawnmowers.
Unit 1.5 Relationships in ecosystems

Students learn to:
2.2 outline factors that affect numbers in predator and prey populations in the area
studied
2.3 identify examples of allelopathy, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism in an
ecosystem and the role of organisms in each type of relationship
2.9 describe and explain the short-term and long-term consequences on the ecosystem
of species competing for resources
Relationships between or among organisms

In ecosystems organisms interact with their abiotic (non-living) and biotic
(living) environment. Biotic environments include relationships between
those of the same species (intraspecific) and between those of other species
(interspecific). Not all relationships are trophic (feeding) relationships. For
example, organisms may compete for mates, space and shelter apart from
competing for food. Some of these relationships are:
V predatorprey relationships
V parasitism
V mutualism
V commensalism
V competition for resources
V allelopathy (a form of competition).
47
Parasitism, mutualism and commensalism are sometimes collectively defined

as symbiosis. That is, symbiotic relationships occur where different species live
in close association with each other. There are, however, different benefits to
each species and for each relationship. For example, in parasitism the parasite
benefits but the host may be harmed, in mutualism both species benefit, and in
commensalism only one species will benefit but the other will not be harmed.
Predators and their prey

Predation involves the capture and killing of other animals for food (prey).
Grey nurse sharks and dingoes are predators. Not only do adult grey nurse
sharks hunt prey, but their young practise cannibalism before they are born.
Only one grey nurse shark baby is born from each of the mothers two uteri
because it eats all its brothers and sisters while inside its mother. In some areas
of NSW there are spotted possum-like animals called quolls that eat other
marsupials for food. If you put a pond in your backyard you will be sure to
soon have frogs followed by red-bellied black snakes because they find frogs
delicious.
The numbers of prey therefore influence the numbers of predators.
Conversely, numbers of prey are in part determined by predation pressure.
Some predators are better than others at finding and catching prey, whereas
some prey are well adapted to escape from predators. Populations of prey
and predators are therefore closely linked and predatorprey relationships are
characterised by oscillations in abundance (see figure 1.5.1). Depending on
food available there will be different outcomes.
V If food is freely available to prey, numbers will increase, as will abundance
of predators in response to readily available prey. There will, however, be
a time lag related to time it takes for young predators to grow up. When
these young reach adulthood they will place intense pressure on prey so that
prey numbers will decline, closely followed by high mortality or reduced
fecundity of predators in response to reduced food resources.
V If food is freely available to prey and predators are absent, numbers of prey
will increase until they become self-limiting. That is, their numbers may
Predatorprey fluctuations
1200
48
Prey
40
800
30
600
Predator
20
400
10
200
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
Time (Weeks)
40
45
50
55
60
Numbers of predators
Figure 1.5.1 Numbers

of prey and predators
will oscillate in response
to food available. Prey
abundance will peak
before predator
abundance.
Numbers of prey
1000
50
become too high to be supported by existing food supplies and numbers

will plummet. Disease may also cause prey numbers to decrease.
V If there are not sufficient prey numbers to sustain existing predator numbers,
predators will starve and abundance will decline.
The abundance of predators and prey will also be determined by those
factors mentioned earlier in unit 1.4: Processes in ecosystemscompetition
for food, space, shelter and mates, disease, availability of food and water, and
fecundity. Seasonal variation (and in some cases this is closely tied in with
seasonal migrations) will also impact on predator and prey populationsand
will directly affect food available and reproductive cycles.
Australia is heaven for introduced predators such as foxes, dogs and cats.
There are about 10 million feral cats and each of these can kill about 1000
small mammals a year.
Figure 1.5.2 Although
the Tasmanian devil
Sarcophilus harrisii looks
fierce, it mainly eats carrion
and is easily killed by dogs.
Young devils, however, will
kill poultry.
Table 1.5.1 Symbiotic relationships

Relationship
Species 1
Species 2
Examples
commensalism
benefit
no harm or
benefit
barnacle/whale, clownfish/
anemone
mutualism
benefit
benefit
bee/flower, lichen (algae/

fungi), cleaner fish/fish
parasitism
benefit for
parasite
host may be
harmed
ticks, fleas, leeches,

tapeworms
allelopathy
benefit
harm or benefit
sugarcane mulch/weeds,
fallen sheoak leaves/
germinating plants
BioiNFo
More rain means more
snakes in our backyards
Rainy days and a warm spring

mean that snake numbers
will increase in summer. After
a long drought, grass cover
will increase in response to
rain. This means that the
extra grass will provide shelter
for snakes, especially young
snakes, from bird predation.
More rain will also foster
an increase in snake food,
such as frogs and mice, and
if these prey are abundant,
snakes will move into urban
areas. It is believed that in
Australia you are always within
100 metres of a snake unless
you live in central city areas.
Remember that all snakes
are protected by the National
Parks and Wildlife Act.
Figure 1.5.3 The red-bellied black snake Pseudechis porphyriacus loves to eat frogs,
so they will often be seen on urban fringes in eastern Australian backyards if ponds are
present
49
BioiNFo
Dogwoods grow in the USA

but in Australia we have
dog trees
Because feral animals
(domestic animals gone
wild) and introduced pests,
such as foxes, kill huge
numbers of sheep, cattle and
native animals, in some areas
of inland Australia people
hang their kills along fences
or have established fox
trees, cat trees, and dog
trees. This is done to remind
people of the presence of
feral animals and the damage
they do to domestic stock and
native animal populations.
Tourist buses are even known
to detour to show tourists
these trees.
Figure 1.5.4 Professional dog trapper Mick Hedger at his dog tree near Jindabyne
Commensalism
BioiNFo
Only a few foxes were

introduced into Australia
The red fox Vulpes vulpes was
first introduced into Victoria
from Europe in the 1860s
and now it is distributed
throughout Australian
rangelands. Predation by
foxes is a major threat to
many native species such
as the bilby, black-footed
rock-wallabies, brush-tailed
bettongs and tammar
wallabies.
Figure 1.5.5 The red fox

Vulpes vulpes has been very
successful in Australia
50
Commensalism is an association between two species where only one species

will benefit and the other will not be harmed. You may have seen large
barnacles and remora (suckerfish) living on whalesthey get their food from
the surrounding ocean wherever the whale goes.
Because whales migrate up and down the eastern
Australian coast, barnacle larvae may be distributed
over large areas. Clown fish Amphiprion melanopus
live in anemones on the Great Barrier Reef. They
gain shelter and protection from the anemone
and secrete mucus to protect themselves from its
stinging cells. Other examples of commensalism
include birds nesting in holes in trees, orchids
living on trees and tiny mites living on humans.
Mutualism
Mutualism occurs when two different species derive
some benefit from living together. For example, if
you go snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef you
may discover large fish queuing up to be cleaned by
little blue-striped cleaner fish at cleaning stations.
The cleaner fish remove and eat parasites from the
larger fishs gills and mouth so both animals benefit.
Nearby you may also see coloured coral that
have zooxanthellae (tiny microscopic unicellular
protists) living in their cells. These zooxanthellae
photosynthesise to produce glucose and oxygen
that the host coral will use. Photosynthesis is
Figure 1.5.6 Budgerigars

nest in holes in trees
and have a commensal
relationship with the
treethe tree-hole acts as a
nest and there is no obvious
harm to the tree
Figure 1.5.7 Fish queue to

have their mouths cleaned
by cleaner fish on the Great
Barrier Reef. Corals and
their zooxanthellae also
practise mutualism.
Figure 1.5.8 Kangaroos

would die without microbes
in their gut to digest
cellulose
BioiNFo
Recycling corn
Every week the Hawks Nest

Sewage Treatment Plant in
NSW collects two garbage
bins full of corn kernels
because humans cannot
digest cellulose and because
many people do not chew
their food into small pieces.
only possible because the coral produces carbon dioxide as a by-product of

respiration. This mutual relationship becomes obvious when the surrounding
water temperature heats up, the zooxanthellae leave and the corals die. Coral
bleaching is an indicator of global warming.
In terrestrial environments mutualism is also important. Root nodules in
clover and legumes (peas, beans and wattles) contain the bacteria Rhizobium
that fix nitrogen to make it available as nitrates to plants through their roots.
These nitrates will be transported through the plant for the production of
proteins. Koalas and other herbivores do not produce the enzyme cellulase to
digest the cellulose in cell walls of the plant foodthey rely on microorganisms
to digest it for them. Even termites have tiny unicellular organisms living in
their guts to digest cellulose. Without these microorganisms herbivores would
die, because they get very few nutrients from chewing their food to break open
the cell walls so cells can release their contents. All of these herbivores have to
eat their mothers faeces to get microbes into their guts.
Parasitism
Parasitism is a trophic (feeding) relationship where a parasite feeds on its hosts
tissues or food in the hosts gutthe parasite benefits but the host may be
harmed. Obviously, a successful parasite is one that does not harm youthe
parasite would die if it killed its food supply. Ectoparasites such as ticks, fleas
and leeches live on their hosts whereas endoparasites such as nematode worms,
tapeworms, flatworms, bacteria, fungi and viruses live inside their hosts.
The liver fluke (figure 1.5.9) is a flatworm that sucks blood within the
liver of its hosts. It causes anaemia and liver disease in more than 75% of the
population in southern China. The relationship between a parasite and its host
evolves very slowly and some life cycles include intermediate hosts. Any change
in the habitat will influence the other stages in the life cycle. For example, a
consequence of building the Aswan High Dam on the Nile river in Africa
51
01093
BioiNFo
Sushi with extras
Because eating sushi with

raw fish has become very
popular in western society, it
is expected that the incidence
of parasitic flatworms such
as tapeworms will increase.
This means that one day
you may be very hungry
even though you have
diarrhoea and stomach pain,
flatulence and vomiting.
You may also experience
anaemia, weakness and
malnutrition and perhaps
some neurological symptoms.
If the worm gets too large it
may block your intestines, but
if you are lucky you will only
feel a slight discomfort as
the reproductive segments
wriggle out of your anus.
Adult fluke in liver

and bile duct
Encysted metacercaria
in raw fish eaten by humans
Eggs
move
through
small
intestine
Free-living cercaria enter

skin of fish and form cysts
Eggs in
faeces
Eggs eaten
by snails
egg
Stages within snail
Miracidium Sporocysts
Redia
Cercaria
Figure 1.5.9
Life cycle of the
Chinese liver fluke
Clonorchis sinensis
was a population explosion of water snails and an increase in

cases of schistosomiasis, a parasitic blood disease characterised
by dysentery, anaemia and body pain. Snails are intermediate
hosts for the parasite and after a while many larvae leave and
swim away. They can penetrate your skin if you are nearby
and then grow into adults inside your body and make you very
sick. If you are ever in Africa try not to swim in the Nile.
Plants also have parasites. When you travel along the New
England Highway, you will often see eucalypts adorned with
bunches of brown or red or green or yellow leaves that hang
down and mimic gum leaves. These are mistletoe and they will
often kill parts of the tree.
Allelopathy
Figure 1.5.10 Mistletoe growing on eucalypt

near Young, NSW. The sticky seeds of the
mistletoe are spread from tree to tree by the
tiny blue-black, scarlet and white mistletoe
bird.
52
Have you ever been inside a pine plantation? You will have noticed
that virtually no other plants grow on the ground under the
trees. This is due to allelopathy, a process where allelochemicals
are released to influence the growth of neighbours. This effect
is most obvious in plants and may be beneficial or it may be
harmful. For example, stands of the she-oak Allocasuarina also
do not have small plants growing underneath them. Similarly,
the bitou bush inhibits the germination of seeds although older
seedlings will survive. Plant allelochemicals may be produced
in leaves, roots and shoots. Allelopathy is even used within
species to prevent overcrowding. Because young seedlings
germinate away from the parent plant they have an increased
chance of survival.
ioiNFo
Sugar cane chemicals
Sugar cane mulch produces

allelochemicals, so it is
spread on gardens to prevent
weeds growing.
Short- and long-term consequences of competition

When two different species compete for the same resource, one inevitably will
not do as well as the other. In the short term, both competing species will have
decreased chances of survival and a reduction in numbers. In the long term,
survival and abundance of one species will increase at the expense of the other.
Populations of bilbies, once common, are now confined in small numbers to the
deserts of central Australia. This is largely due to competition with introduced
species, such as cattle and rabbits, for the same food, and predation by foxes
and cats. The bilby is now an endangered species.
Review: 1.5 Relationships in ecosystems

Key terms
allelochemicals
disease
food
mortality
prey
symbiosis
allelopathy
ectoparasites
interspecific
mutualism
relationship
trophic
Main points
i Organisms interact with their abiotic (non-living)
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
and biotic (living) environment.

Biotic environments include relationships
between those of the same species (intraspecific)
and between those of different species
(interspecific).
Not all relationships are trophic (feeding)
relationships.
Some relationships are: predation, parasitism,
mutualism, commensalism and competition for
resources (including allelopathy).
Predator-prey associations are characterised by
oscillations in abundance.
Abundance of predators and prey will also be
determined by competition for food, space,
shelter and mates, disease, availability of food
and water, and fecundity, all of which are affected
by seasonal variation.
Parasitism, mutualism and commensalism are
termed symbiotic relationships.
In symbiosis different species live in close
association with each other.
In parasitism the parasite benefits but the host
may be harmed.
In mutualism both species benefit.
In commensalism only one species will benefit
but the other will not be harmed.
commensalism
endoparasites
intraspecific
parasitism
shelter
competition
fecundity
mates
predatorprey relationship
space
i Allelopathy involves the release of plant

chemicals that influence the growth of
neighbouring plants.
i Short-term competition for resources between
species results in an initial decrease in numbers
of one species.
i In long-term competition, one species will survive
at the expense of the other.
Revision questions
1 Think about a local ecosystem near you. Now

identify the organisms that live there. Choose
one of each animal and plant and outline the
biotic and abiotic characters that you think will
affect each of them.
2 Define symbiosis.
3 Explain why parasitism, mutualism and
commensalism are sometimes included under
the symbiosis heading.
4 Describe the following relationships and give a
local example of each:
i predatorprey
i parasitism
i mutualism
i commensalism
i competition for resources
i allelopathy.
53
5 In your garden you may have citrus trees or

roses. When you look closely you may see ants
busily scurrying around aphids. Describe the
relationship between these insects.
6 You will certainly have populations of rabbits and
foxes nearby if you live near the bush in Sydney
or on the fringes of a country town. Construct a
graph to represent their relationship.
7 Over the past few years, noisy miners have
increased in Sydney backyards but smaller birds
are now rarely seen. Explain this phenomenon.
8 Describe the relationship between your cat or dog

and its fleas.
9 The relationships between parasites and their
hosts can be very complex. Parasites can even
be parasitised by other parasites, for example
the dog flea tapeworm. Identify some other
examples.
10 Explain the consequences of short-term
competition versus long-term competition on a
named population.
Unit 1.6 Energy flow

Students learn to/Students:
1.4 identify uses of energy by organisms

2.4 describe the role of decomposers in ecosystems
2.5 explain trophic interactions between organisms in an ecosystem using food chains,
food webs and pyramids of biomass and energy
2b gather information from first-hand and secondary sources to construct food
chains and food webs to illustrate the relationships between member species in an
ecosystem
Energy flow through ecosystems

Energy, which initially comes from the sun, flows through ecosystems in a oneway process, with a recycling of some materials. A continual input of solar
energy is necessary for life on Earth to continue. This means that, first of all,
plants capture energy from the sun during the process of photosynthesis where
sugars (glucose) are manufactured and starch is stored. These plants act as
producers so that energy from the sun and carbon dioxide are made available
to ecosystems as glucose. This plant food, or chemical energy, may then be used
by herbivores because they eat plants. Carnivores may then eat the herbivores.
There are also some animals that eat animals and plants (omnivores)they
may even eat other carnivores. About 90% of energy, much of it heat, will be
lost as energy transfers to the next trophic (feeding) level. Finally, when all of
these organisms die, scavengers like prawns, cockroaches and Tasmanian devils
will consume these dead animals and plants. At the same time, decomposers
such as bacteria and fungi will break down their chemical energy into simpler
forms, making it available as nutrients for other life forms. To put it simply, the
suns energy is trapped by plants, some is passed on to other organisms by food
chains and food webs, and decomposers help to recirculate some nutrients
back into the system. Therefore energy flow is a one-way process through the
biosphere, which contains many diverse ecosystems and all the Earths living
organisms. Life as we know it on Earth could continue indefinitely until the
sun dies.
54
01096
Producers
heat
energy from sunlight
bacteria
nutrients
eucalypts and grass
heat
Decomposers and scavengers
crab
kangaroo
millipede
fungus
wombat
fly
rabbit
grasshopper
heat
marsupial mouse
Primary consumers (Herbivores)
hawk
blue wren
quoll
Higher level consumers (Carnivores)
sunlight
(solar energy)
chemical energy
passed to next
trophic level
dingo
fox
nutrients
heat
heat
Figure 1.6.1 Energy flow and nutrient recycling through ecosystems: sunlight energy (yellow) is trapped by producers
which, when they are eaten, pass chemical energy (green) on to the next trophic (feeding) level. Some nutrients are
recycled (blue) and some energy is lost as heat (red).
55
Energy flow through trophic levels

Plants are producers, or autotrophs (auto means self, troph means feed), because
they capture energy from the sun in the presence of chlorophyll and produce
glucose during photosynthesis. This is fundamental to all life processes because
all energy ultimately comes from the sun. Some chemosynthetic bacteria are
also autotrophs. Heterotrophs are those animals and fungi that rely on plants
for food, either directly or indirectly. That is, chemical energy is passed from
animal to animal via food chains: a snake may eat a mouse that has consumed
wheat grains containing stored starch and sugars produced by the parent plant
during photosynthesis. In this case, there are several feeding or trophic levels:
the wheat would be the producer, the mouse would be the primary consumer
(herbivore) and the snake would be the secondary consumer (carnivore). If
the mouse had also eaten cheese, the snake would also be considered to be
a tertiary consumer (it could also be an omnivore if it ate plants as well).
(Note that when you read other textbooks, different terms may be used. For
example, a primary consumer could also be identified as a first-order consumer
and so on).
Food chains
A food chain reflects the transfer of chemical energy from one trophic level to
the next. It can be written like the following word equation:
Green plant
Plant eater
Animal eater
Producer
Herbivore
Carnivore
Primary consumer
First-order consumer
Secondary consumer
Second-order consumer
There are a few basic things you need to remember when you attempt to
write a food chain to represent feeding relationships between animals:
V a food chain is a series of organisms, each being food for the next
V every food chain starts with a producer (plant)
V energy flows in the direction of the arrows
V each arrow points to the animal that will eat itimagine that the arrow is
pointing into the mouth of the other animal
01097
V at each step in the food
chain, 8090% of energy is lost as heat energy and
matter that is not digested
V producers are eaten by primary consumers (herbivores) and these are eaten
by secondary consumers (carnivores), and so on.
grass seeds
field mouse
brown snake
kookaburra
goanna
Figure 1.6.2 A simple food chainalthough it may be hard for a goanna to kill an adult kookaburra, they will search
for and eat kookaburra eggs laid in termite nests
56
Food webs
Figure 1.6.3 The New

Holland Honeyeater
(primary consumer
herbivore) feeds on the
Banksia (producer)
Think about the feeding relationships in a local ecosystem near you. If you live
on the coast of NSW you will be thinking about very different organisms from
someone who lives in the bush. Go out into your backyard again and watch
the animals that live there. Did you see any ants? What were they eating? Was
anything eating the ants? Did you see any birds? Identify what they were eating.
Did they eat plants and/or animals? Watch closely and you may be surprised
to see that animals often eat a variety of food items, both plant and animal.
For example, if you were out at night you might see a possum eating Eucalypt
leaves, lillypilly fruit, bottlebrush flowers, leaves from your lemon tree, insects
or bird eggs. You may even see or hear a powerful owl as it scoops a possum
or a flying fox out of a tree if you live near the bush on the northern beaches or
near the Botanic Gardens in Sydney. Or you may be lucky enough to see a fox
also out hunting small mammals such as mice, rabbits or bandicoots.
Because many animals feed on more
than one food, feeding relationships
01098
can be complex. A branching diagram or food web is used to show these
relationships. Within a food web there are many food chains.
fox
hawk
frog
butcher bird
snake
kookaburra
caterpillar
BioiNFo
bluetongue lizard
grasshopper
Big cats in NSW?
For over fifty years there have

been sightings of big black
cats in the Blue Mountains
National Park and in the
Grose Vale area. Sheep
carcasses have been found
in trees and there have been
several eyewitness reports.
In the 1850s, American
goldminers brought big cats
to the area, as did soldiers
after World War II. Although a
government report has been
prepared, so far there is no
official word that black cats
exist in these areas.
snail
fern
Figure 1.6.4 Food web in a backyard near Garigal National Park
Biomass and energy pyramids

Biomass and energy pyramids are very similar: one measures mass, and the
other, energy. A biomass (food) pyramid is a measure of the mass of all living
organisms at each trophic level at any one time it shows how much material
(about 10%) is passed on to successive trophic levels. An energy pyramid is
a measure of the flow of energy (about 10%) of all living organisms through
trophic levels during a fixed time period. Biomass and energy decrease from
level to level. The advantage of using an energy pyramid is that you can measure
productivity because energy is recorded over time.
57
01099
Sometimes biomass pyramids become
unstable and the consumer biomass is
bigger than the producers. This can be due to the effects of disease and drought
on plants so that eventually the consumers die off or move to another area
that has enough plant food. For example, land development and destruction
of eucalyptus trees has contributed to the demise of koalas.
Figure 1.6.5 Simple

biomass and energy
pyramids10% of energy
is transferred between
levels, the remainder being
lost as heat, waste and
respiration
Top carnivore
3 gm2
1Kj
Carnivore
10 gm2
14 Kj
Herbivore
40 gm2
140 Kj
Producers
900 gm2
9000 Kj
Biomass
Figure 1.6.6 Biomass pyramid of coastal woodland/heath
Energy
Figure 1.6.7 Biomass pyramid of an intertidal marine

rock platform
Review: 1.6 Energy flow

Key terms
autotroph
decomposer
herbivore
producer
trophic level
58
biomass pyramid
energy pyramid
heterotroph
scavenger
biosphere
food chain
omnivore
secondary consumer
carnivore
food web
primary consumer
tertiary consumer
Main points
i Plants are producers or self-feeding autotrophs.
i Heterotrophs are those organisms that consume
others for food.
i Consumers eat producers.

i There are different trophic levels of consumers
i
i
i
i
i
i
one organism, depending on its diet, may be a

secondary and a tertiary consumer.
Energy flows through ecosystems.
Decomposers recycle nutrients.
A food chain reflects the transfer of chemical
energy from one trophic level to the next.
Food webs are used to show complex feeding
relationships.
Within a food web there are many food chains.
Biomass and energy pyramids show how much
living matter and energy are passed (about 10%)
between successive trophic levels.
Revision questions
1 Define autotroph and heterotroph.
2 Define producer, consumer and decomposer,

giving local examples of each.
3 Describe the relationship between primary,
secondary and tertiary consumers.
4 Construct a food chain from an aquatic and from
a terrestrial environment.
5 Construct a food web of all the organisms you
can see in your backyard.
6 Define the terms primary consumer, secondary
consumer, tertiary consumer, giving examples
from your backyard.
7 Identify other terms that could be used instead
of primary consumer, secondary consumer,
tertiary consumer.
8 Construct and label a biomass pyramid.
9 You are about to eat a buffet lunch that has a
variety of foods including salads, chicken, beef,
seafood and desserts. Make a list of these foods
and identify the possible trophic levels of each.
10 Identify the trophic level of producers,
scavengers and decomposers.
Unit 1.7 Adaptations

Students learn to:
2.6 define the term adaptation and discuss the problems associated with inferring
characteristics of organisms as adaptations for living in a particular habitat
2.7 identify some adaptations of living things to factors in their environment
2.8 identify and describe in detail adaptations of a plant and an animal from the local
ecosystem
Defining adaptations
Earlier, in table 1.2.1, you compared the abiotic characteristics of aquatic and
terrestrial environments. Because temperature fluctuates more in terrestrial than
in aquatic environments, it can have a greater influence on the distribution and
abundance of species on land than in water. In shallow water, temperature can
also vary widely, so animals and plants that live there must have characteristics
for survival that they can pass onto their young. These are called adaptive
features or adaptations. Adaptations can be structural (shape and size),
physiological (how it functions) and behavioural (how it acts). For example, if
you were to go into central NSW, it would look like a red desert until it rained.
Soon after, the ground would be a mass of green leaves and flowers. These plants
can exist and rapidly grow there because most of the plant lives underground
as fibrous and woody lignotubers that store food and water. During fires and
droughts these plants would have a selective advantage over other plants that
do not have these features. Nearby you may see weird one-eyed crustaceans
that have suddenly emerged from the mud and are now wriggling around as
59
they strive to mate. You may also hear male frogs frantically calling for
females or see tadpoles flopping about in the shallow puddles.
Therefore adaptations are essentially those features that allow an
organism to survive. But if you studied a population of animals, you may
find it hard to infer how some features help survival in that habitat. This
may be because the animal is not in its normal habitat or because the
feature was inherited from an ancestor living in a different environment.
Plant adaptations
Figure 1.7.1 Sydneys official

flowerBanksia ericifolia. Note
the large orange flowers, small
leaves and woody branches.
BioiNFo
Killer plants
Some plants that live

in nutrient-poor soil are
carnivorous, as well
as producing their own
food (glucose) from
photosynthesis. The common
sundew Drosera spathulata
lives on the poor sandstone
soils around Sydney. It
supplements its diet by
producing enzymes and
ingesting insects that become
trapped in its sticky threads.
Figure 1.7.2 The

common sundew Drosera
spathulataone of four
carnivorous sundew species
living in Sydney
60
The heath banksia Banksia ericifolia is now Sydneys official floral

emblem. The orange-red cylindrical flowers are often 20 centimetres in
length. They produce abundant nectar, so you will often see flower spikes
visited by honeyeaters such as wattlebirds or small mammals and insects.
These animals help to transfer pollen so that fertilisation can occur and,
once seeds form, they will be retained on the branches in large woody
fruit until the tree dies. This medium-sized tree has many adaptations that
enable it to live in water-poor sandy soils along the NSW coast and inland
to the Blue Mountains. For example, the masses of fibrous roots absorb
minerals and water from the infertile soil. Look at the dense foliage with
its small, tough, spiky leavesthese are adaptations to prevent water
loss, as are the thick cuticle on each leaf and the slightly curled-over leaf
edges. Feel the barkit is very rough and thick and heat resistant which
is excellent for the trees survival if a bushfire sweeps through the bush.
Usually, however, the tree dies after fire. If a fire does kill the tree the
large woody fruit dry out and crack open to reveal winged seeds that
germinate easily in ash. The heath banksia is therefore well adapted to
survive in poor soil and under the influence of fire.
Animal adaptations
Figure 1.7.3 Look at this

koalas handstwo fingers
oppose the other three so
they can grip the branch
BioiNFo
Kangaroos
The average size of kangaroos

is getting smaller because
hunters are shooting the
larger males. Adult female
kangaroos can have three
young at once and produce
different types of milk at
the same time. A joey may
be in the process of being
weaned, a younger one can
be attached to the teat and
another might exist as a
tiny embryo in a state of
suspended animation or
embryonic diapausethis
means that the embryo is
stopped from developing
further until environmental
conditions are right or until a
teat becomes available.
In its natural habitat the koala Phascolarctos

cinereus doesnt just sit around in gum trees all day.
Koalas can be very active and, especially at night
or early morning, you may see one bounding along
the road as it heads for the next Eucalypt. In the
breeding season when males fight each other for
females, they can be extremely noisy. Koalas have
many adaptations allowing them to exist in an
arboreal habitat, that is, in trees. They have very
strong claws and muscular legs that enable them
to move quickly up trees in a jumping motion.
Otherwise they will slowly and easily pull themselves
up into a gum tree where they will feed on the Eucalypt leaves. Their hands
are arranged so that two fingers oppose the other threethis makes it easy to
grip branches. It is not generally known that koalas can also swim.
Koalas are solitary (apart from a mother with its young), and they are
active at night (nocturnal), sleeping for most of the day in the fork of a gum
tree. They eat a few species of Eucalyptus (for example, swamp mahogany,
river red gum and blue gum) and some tea-trees (Melaleuca). Because Eucalypt
leaves contain a great deal of water, koalas usually dont drink unless it is very
hot. Koalas dont produce the enzyme cellulase that breaks down cellulose in
plants, so they have a huge caecum (a bag of microorganisms) in their gut at
the junction of the small and large intestines (equivalent to your appendix).
This is where microbial digestion of the plant matter occurs. Baby koalas get
these microbes by eating their mothers faeces.
Although it is known that some koalas have survived in captivity until they
are fifteen years old, their longevity (how long they live) in the bush is not
known. It is known, however, that females are mature when they are two years
old and males at three to four years. An individual male will mark its territory
with glands on its chest by rubbing up and down against a gum tree. He does
this during the breeding season to put his scent on the tree to warn other males
that it is his tree. He also bellows loudly to tell other males to keep away from
the females. During summer the female gives birth to a tiny baby weighing less
than 0.5 grams that then drinks milk from one of two teats in the pouch for
seven months. The milk concentration changes during this time to reflect the
dietary needs of the young koala. Parental care is high. When the baby leaves
the pouch it clings to its mothers back and eats gum leaves and milk. By twelve
months the young koala is weaned and independent and soon moves away
from its mother. During this time there is increased mortality of young.
In 1902, 600 000 koalas were killed in NSW for their fur. Numbers were
scarce in Sydneys early days until about 1830 when numbers increased. This
sudden increase was related to the decline in numbers of predatorsdingoes
and Australias first inhabitants, the Aboriginal Peoples. From 1870, for about
50 years, millions of koalas were slaughtered and many died from the disease
Chlamydia. Until recently, small isolated populations lived on the northern
beaches of Sydney at Avalon and near Bantry Bay and Campbelltown. Tree
felling, fires, cars and dogs continue to take their toll. In koala habitats there
61
is now a need for more fauna tunnels under major highways, fences to keep
in dogs, eucalypts planted along streets to act as food and refuge, and slower
cars. It is ironic that on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, there is a koala
population explosion whereas in most other locations, koalas are under threat.
One day perhaps you could help devise laws to prevent humans from making
koalas extinct.

Professor Chris Dickman: an arid zone ecologist
Figure 1.7.4 Chris Dickman teaching

children about the bush rat Rattus
fuscipes in the Olney State Forest just
north of Sydney
Chris Dickman holds a PhD from the Australian National University,

Canberra. He has been at the University of Sydney since 1989 where
he is currently Professor in Ecology and Director of the Institute of
Wildlife Research and he has supervised about 30 Honours students
and more than 40 MSc and PhD students.
Chris is an arid zone ecologist who has spent many years studying
small mammals and reptiles under difficult conditions in the deserts
of central Australia and in the Kalahari and Namib deserts of southern
Africa. Most of his research is centred on ecological field experiments
in the Simpson Desert where he has created a unique and vast
database on factors influencing the distribution and abundance of
resident native fauna in order to forestall their extinction. This research
has been stimulated by his concern that many species have declined
or become extinct with the advent of European settlement. For the last
ten years his primary focus has been to clarify, by observation and field
experiment, the factors that regulate diversity in the small vertebrates
of arid Australia. Research on the exceptionally rich communities of
small mammals and lizards of this region has contributed to theoretical
debate about the importance of biotic (for example, predation) and
abiotic (for example, physical processesfire and flood) factors in
shaping population and species dynamics, and in achieving practical
conservation goals.
To find out more about Chriss research interests access the
following website: www.bio.usyd.edu.au/staff/dickman/dickman.htm
Figure 1.7.5 Chris Dickman studying a skink in the

Simpson Desert
62
Figure 1.7.6 Chris Dickman keying a Simpson Desert

plant in the field
Review: 1.7 Adaptations

Key terms
adaptation
caecum
nocturnal
adaptive features
embryonic diapause
physiological
Main points
i Adaptations enhance survival of organisms in
their environment.
i Adaptations can be structural, physiological or

behavioural.
i It can be difficult to infer adaptations.

i Organisms have a combination of adaptations
relevant to their environment.
Revision questions
1 Define adaptation.
2 Think about the native animals and plants that
live in or pass through your backyard at night.
Describe two adaptations that enable each plant
and animal to survive.
3 You are about to put a pond in your garden to
attract frogs but these will also attract red-bellied
black snakes. Describe some snake adaptations
that will help them find your pond full of frogs.
arboreal
lignotuber
structural
behavioural
longevity
4 Propose laws that you would introduce to save

the koala from becoming extinct.
5 Cane toads are hopping south towards Sydney.
Describe some adaptations that make this
species so successful at establishing in new
areas.
6 In your local creek you will find yabbies. Describe
some adaptations necessary for living there.
7 You may have Grevillea, Banksia and Eucalyptus
growing in your garden. Compare the adaptations
of each of these plants.
8 Propose two reasons why it may be difficult to
infer characteristics as adaptations for survival.
9 Describe some adaptations you would need if
you lived in intertidal mud.
10 In an intertidal rock pool you will find very
different looking animals, even though they live
in the same environment. Use two examples to
explain these differences.
Unit 1.8 Human impacts

Students learn to:
2.10 identify the impact of humans in the ecosystem studied
Human impacts on ecosystems

Wherever humans have been they have impacted on the environment. The
whole NSW coast has been disturbed in some way, and it will never be known
what it was like before humans lived there. For 50 000 years the Aboriginal
Peoples interacted so closely with their environment, especially by using fire,
that they helped shape the flora and fauna that live in NSW today. For the
past 200 years, however, huge numbers of plants and animals have been lost
because of agricultural practices that are at cross-purposes with the native
organisms that live here, and because foreign species were introduced that
outcompeted the natives. Now many Australian species, such as the northern
hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus kreffti and the mountain pygmy possum
Burramys parvus, are endangered because of human impacts. Others like
the Tasmanian tiger Thylacinus cynocephalus are considered extinct. Due
to anecdotal and scientific evidence, the effect of human impacts on many
species has been identified and steps are now being taken to reverse the process
of extinction. Many of you may have received a parcel from overseas that
63
has contained chocolates or other food only to find that it has a sticker on it
saying Opened by Australia Post for Inspection by Quarantine. Labradors and
beagles at the airport are used to find suspicious organic material. This is one
of the ways that the authorities can halt the introduction of exotic pests.
Many human impacts have influenced Australias biodiversity, that is, the
numbers of plant and animal species and their genetic material in an area.
There are many disturbances:
V introduced species (foxes, rabbits, prickly pear, blackberries, cane toads)
V pollution (factories positioned next to rivers, inappropriate waste disposal,
car exhaust emissions)
V land management practices (land clearing causing erosion, overuse of
fertilisers)
V management of waterways (overuse of water upstream, damming rivers,
salination)
V overharvesting (marine and freshwater fish, ducks).
Poor land management practices are of particular concern because of soil
erosion and its effect on biodiversity. Sometimes dust blown across the Tasman
turns snow in New Zealand pink.
Introduced species
Because the early European settlers wanted NSW to be like their original home,
they introduced many species without realising that these immigrants would
have major impacts on the resident fauna and flora. Introduced species do very
well in new countries and often outcompete the original inhabitants. Currently
Australia has a very successful menagerie of feral (domestic animals gone wild)
animals. These include cats, goats, rabbits, donkeys, pigs, deer, water buffalo,
horses, dogs and camels. In fact, recently Australian camels were sent to Saudi
Arabia because they are a much hardier genetic stock than the Arabian camels.
We also have many introduced plant species, such as lantana, bitou bush,
blackberries, prickly pear and asparagus ferns, which all have impacted on
biodiversity in some way.
Cane toads
Originally from South America, the cane toad Bufo marinus was introduced to
Australia via Hawaii. It was released in Gordonvale, Queensland, in 1935 as a
biological control of the sugar cane beetle but it liked our native insects, frogs
and small mammals better. From 101 individuals there are now millions that
NT
QLD
WA
SA
NSW
Figure 1.8.1 The

introduced cane toad Bufo
marinus and its distribution
64
VIC
ioiNFo
An introduced marine
pest
The seaweed Caulerpa

taxifolia, a marine pest
recently introduced to NSW
waters, has now overrun and
become a severe threat to
seagrasses in some areas.
The NSW Department of
Primary Industries, Agriculture
and Fisheries has tried to kill
this menace with salt and by
smothering it with matting
but to no availC. taxifolia
is thriving in NSW estuaries
and has recently increased in
Pittwater on Sydneys northern
beaches.
have spread through most of Queensland, across to the Northern Territory, and
south to Yamba in NSW. There is also a breeding population at Port Macquarie.
B. marinus is now marching towards Sydney and it will succeed if it gets used
to colder temperatures. Cane toads eat and outcompete native species and are
highly toxic. Native species and domestic pets are often poisoneda dog can
die after drinking water in which a cane toad has been swimming.
Because cane toads are such a threat to our species diversity it was once
suggested that their natural predator be imported as a biological controlthe
fer-de-lance, a highly venomous, fast and aggressive snake. It was pointed out
that Australia already has enough snakes and it would be unwise to import
another that might decide that the small furry mammals are tastier than cane
toads.
Rabbits
Only 24 rabbits were first released in Australia, near Geelong in Victoria. In
the 1950s, if you were out driving in country NSW very early in the morning
it was normal to see rabbits dotted over paddocks. Rabbits ate the vegetation,
contributed to erosion and competed with native animals for food and
shelter. Consequently, to control population numbers, the virus
Myxomatosis was introduced in southern NSW. Populations
recovered due to the survival of some rabbits that had natural
immunity to the virus. In 1995, the calicivirus was introduced.
This initially caused populations to plummet but now rabbits
have recovered again. Scientists are currently researching the
effects of an immunocontraceptive. In the meantime, hunters
are often employed to shoot rabbits.
Figure 1.8.2 The

introduced marine pest
Caulerpa taxifolia
Figure 1.8.3 The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculis has affected many native
species
65
Figure 1.8.4 The common

mynah Acridotheres tristis
is an introduced pest that
takes over the homes of
many native birds and sugar
gliders
BioiNFo
No snow on Mount
Kosciuszko?
The only snow likely on Mount

Kosciuszko in the coming
decades could be that made
by snow-making machines.
Global warming is expected
to send many animal and
plant species into extinction,
increase the numbers of feral
cats and weeds, increase the
incidence of bushfires and
reduce river flows.
BioiNFo
Human activity thwarts
second ice age
Earth should now be in the

middle of its second ice age.
But 8000 years ago, humans
kept sheep and cattle and
cleared land for agriculture,
leading to an increase in
carbon dioxide. Then 5000
years ago, there was a rise
in methane associated with
releases from livestock and
from rice paddy fields. Both
of these greenhouse gases
contributed to global warming
and may have diverted
another ice age.
66
Common mynahscane toads with wings

Common (Indian) mynahs Acridotheres tristis are urban birds that were first
introduced to Melbourne in 1862 to rid market gardens of insects. Later they
were introduced to Queensland (where they were unsuccessful in controlling
the cane beetle), and to Sydney in NSW. Mynahs pair for life and have a
complex social system. These birds are intelligent and territorial. They eat cat
and dog food, carry mites and form communal roosts in trees at night, littering
the ground with their droppings, and waking people at 5.30 am with their loud
racket. Mainly, however, they are aggressive towards other birds and take over
nests and hollows. If you have mynahs in your backyard you will have fewer
peewees, eastern rosellas, crimson rosellas and sugar gliders. To overcome this
problem, mynahs are trapped and humanely killed with carbon dioxide gas to
reduce their numbers.
Pollution
Aboriginal middens were repositories for empty shells and other waste
prior to European occupation. Like the Aboriginal Peoples in the past, all
modern Australians need to manage waste too, otherwise the environment
will become pollutedcontaminated by products from human activities. In
the industrialised world, however, waste management can be complex and
often does not work, resulting in damage to the environment. Humans need
large areas for garbage tips that must be managed so waste can be recycled. In
some NSW shires, residents are given three garbage binsone for paper (blue
lid), one for cans and bottles (yellow lid), and one for general garbage. Every
alternate week the yellow or the blue-lidded bin is emptied while the general
bin is emptied weekly. In addition, if residents have a vegetation bin this is
emptied monthly along with any tied-up or boxed garden vegetation.
Air pollution is harder to control than solid waste. Most of the air pollution
(particles and gas) in cities today is due to car emissions and from wood and
gas fires. Luckily, it is now illegal to use incinerators in many areas, but too
much carbon dioxide and other gases are still being produced. Twenty years
ago in Washington DC, people werent allowed to drive their cars unless their
car exhaust emissions met a certain standardif they failed, the car had to be
fixed and then tested again.
The greenhouse effect contributes to global warming. If there are too
many greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, in the Earths
atmosphere, heat will be trapped around the Earth, just like in a greenhouse.
The result is that the Earth and the atmosphere will get hotter and hotter.
Burning fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) and keeping lots of cattle (which produce
methane gas from digestion) increase global warming because they result in
greenhouse gases. Further, if too much land is cleared of vegetation, carbon
dioxide will not be taken from the atmosphere.
Water pollution is an ongoing concern in NSW and has seriously affected
the biodiversity of aquatic life. Sydney Harbour, however, is now the cleanest
it has been in about 100 years and biodiversity is increasing due to government
initiatives such as stormwater barriers, public education and laws to prevent
pollution. Water rats that hadnt been around for 70 years are now regularly
seen.
In recent years noise pollution has been recognised as a major concern.

Mass strandings of dolphins and whales on beaches have been linked to sonar
tests and seismic surveys. In 2000 at Hawks Nest beach, roughly 50 dolphins
were suddenly observed to dive in unison just as a fighter plane flew close
overhead.
Land management
A letter to Prime Minister John Howard in November 2003 from 400 scientists
has claimed that whenever 100 hectares of woodland is cleared, about 2000
birds, 15000 reptiles and 500 mammals will die. There is no doubt that
indiscriminate land clearing reduces biodiversity, but it can also cause severe
land degradation and soil erosion if not managed properly. After rainfall, soil
and fertilisers can run into rivers and cause problems downstream, especially
eutrophication. That is, nutrient runoff results in algal blooms that cause
decreased oxygen levels in water and loss of aquatic life. Fortunately, most
farmers manage their farms properly and look to future production and soil
retention while maintaining remnants of bush for native animals and plants.
The Australian government has also set aside areas such as national parks,
aquatic reserves and wilderness areas because scientific research has shown
they act as refuge areas and enhance biodiversity. There is a current plan to set
up a wildlife corridor along the whole eastern coast of Australia.
Figure 1.8.5 Land clearing
ioiNFo
Longlines catch seabirds
In the southern oceans, tens

of thousands of seabirds are
killed annually trying to eat
fish bait on longlines set by
commercial fishermen. Birds
become hooked or entangled
in these lines and die. More
than 60 species are affected,
and 24 of these species may
soon become extinct.
Figure 1.8.6 Salination around the Murray River
Intense irrigation around the Murray River in NSW has caused the water
table to rise, bringing salt with it. This high salinity kills crops and native
species, and makes water undrinkable and land infertile. Recent research
indicates that some reversal occurs when eucalypts are planted because these
thirsty trees help lower the water table. Irrigation needs to be managed if fragile
ecosystems in this area are to be sustained.
Management of waterways
Waterways and oceans have traditionally been used to dispose of wastes (and
are still considered in many countries to be a dumping ground for waste). Many
old factories, particularly paper mills, are situated next to rivers. Also, some
human activities (such as agriculture) inadvertently result in pollutants running
67
BioiNFo
Decline in Australias
birds of prey
Most of Australias birds of

prey (raptors) have decreased
in abundance since the late
1970s. Numbers of wedgetailed eagles Aquila audax
and nankeen kestrels Falco
cenchroides have reduced
by 28 per cent and 44 per
cent, respectively. Scientists
think that bushland clearing,
pesticides and perhaps also
disease are contributing to
their decline.
Figure 1.8.7 A nankeen kestrel takes food to its young. Mice and many species of insects
are eaten.
BioiNFo
Why have our seagrasses
declined?
Seagrasses act as nurseries

for juvenile fish and therefore
influence biodiversity. They
have been drastically depleted
in Botany Bay due to dredging
and other man-induced
changes to the hydrodynamics
of the bay. Ironically, when
the second runway for Sydney
airport was constructed,
seagrass beds established
spontaneously nearby and
became the best recruitment
area for fish in Botany Bay.
68
into waterways when it rains. This means that before

current anti-pollution laws were in place, industrial
wastes, dyes, sewage, oils, toxic metals and other
solid and liquid wastes flowed straight into rivers
and impacted on aquatic life there. In fact, if you
sampled animals living in mud near Homebush
Bay you would find relatively few species but lots
of one species. This decreased biodiversity is an
indication that the area is heavily polluted in some
way. Nowadays, laws and government agencies like
the Environment Protection Authority police runoff
into waterways. In 2004, however, 96 tonnes of
waste were retrieved from the Georges River in less
than eight months. This included 6500 syringes,
2500 plastic bags and 24 cars.
Overharvesting
If humans overharvest natural organisms (fish,
kangaroos, native ducks), there may not be enough
mature adults to breed and maintain population
numbers in the next generation. Populations may
crash and take time to recover depending on how
long it will take the young to reach maturity, how
healthy they are, how many young are produced
and how many mature females and males are in the
Figure 1.8.8 Due to

declining numbers of live
animals and because they
were being overfished for
souvenirs and Chinese
medicines (for tonics and
aphrodisiacs), all NSW
seahorses such as Whites
seahorse Hippocampus
whitei are now protected
population. The amount of food, mates and shelter available will also impact
on population numbers. Therefore, there are laws governing native animals
that can be harvested, and total prohibition on others so they are a protected
species. For example, bag limits and the length a saltwater fish must be before
you can keep it are based on scientific research, and these rules may change
periodically depending on population numbers.
Professor Tony Underwood: a pioneer in experimental marine ecology
Tony Underwood was awarded

his PhD in Bristol, UK, on
reproduction and ecology
of intertidal snails. In 1972
he went to the University of
Sydney as a Postdoctoral
Research Fellow, and from
there progressed to a Personal
Professorship in Experimental
Ecology in 1992. In 1997, the
Australian Research Council
created the Centre for Research
on Ecological Impacts of
Coastal Cities (EICC) of which
he is currently Director. He
has supervised the research
work of about 50 Honours
Figure 1.8.9
students and more than 70
Tony Underwood:
MSc and PhD students many of
an eminent marine
whom now work in education,
scientist
research, universities or
government departments.
Tony is an exceptional academic who has pioneered
experimental marine ecology in the global arena. The
current main focus of his research is the effects of
human disturbance on the marine systems he studies
through his research centre. Through his efforts,

Tony has gained an enormous databasemuch of it
baseline data for future comparisonsfrom field-based
experiments. His stringent scientific research methods
and publications from this research are internationally
acclaimed.
The EICC comprises about 45 scientists, many of
them students working on research projects to do with
the changes to coastal habitats and biota that are
caused by cities. Projects include:
b work on seawalls and the animals and plants that
live on them
b marinas and their effects on fish and on animals
living on the pilings
b pollution caused by stormwater outfalls
b restoration of habitats after they have been
disturbed.
Tonys work is driven by an underlying philosophy
that all of the management and development of coastal
sites needs to be careful of the underlying ecology,
which can only be known by the proper scientific
experimental research.
To find out more about Tonys research interests
access the following website: www.eicc.bio.usyd.edu.
au/scripts/database/view.pl?DB=staff&id=1
Figure 1.8.10 Seawalls are one of the most common

intertidal habitats in urbanised estuaries
Figure 1.8.11 A marina in Sydney Harbour
69
Review: 1.8 Human impacts

Key terms
air pollution
eutrophication
greenhouse effect
land management
salination
biodiversity
extinct
introduced species
noise pollution
waste
Main points
i Humans have disturbed ecosystems for
i
i
i
i
i
i
70
thousands of years.
Human impact influences biodiversity.
Human impacts can include: introduced species,
pollution, bad land and waterways management
practices, and overharvesting.
Introduced species do so well because they have
no natural predators and are relatively unaffected
by disease.
Species that act as biological controls should
be investigated on whether their diet is speciesspecific before they are imported into a new
country.
Public education is an important tool for
conserving biodiversity.
Conservation laws are based on scientific
research.
biological control
feral
irrigation
overharvesting
water pollution
endangered
global warming
land clearing
pollution
waterways management
Revision questions
1 Identify an introduced species that has been

beneficial to the NSW environment. Describe its
relationship with another species.
2 Identify an introduced species that has been
harmful to the NSW environment. Describe its
relationship with another species.
3 Describe a human impact that has been
detrimental to your local ecosystem. Outline
some possible control measures.
4 Outline some ways to reduce pollution.
5 Go outside to your backyard and look around.
Identify some human impacts.
6 Assess the level of pollution in your
neighbourhood. Describe some types of pollution
that are obvious to you.
7 Identify some introduced plants living in your
backyard.
8 Compare species in your backyard with those
native species that you would find in your local
bush.
9 Identify some introduced birds in your backyard.
10 Describe the effects that the magpie has on
other bird populations that live near you.
A local ecosystem: chapter

review
Review questions
1 a Clarify what is meant by ecology.

b Scientists use observations and hypotheses to learn about nature. Propose
a possible ecological study of a named organismstate initial observations
before you start and suggest a hypothesis for your research.
2 a Define an ecosystem.
b Identify three examples of ecosystems.
c Identify some of the resident plants and animals in each.
3 a Distinguish between an organism, a population, a community and an
ecosystem.
b Construct a drawing of a terrestrial ecosystem to demonstrate your answer.
4 Describe the differences between environment and habitat using examples.
5 Identify the abiotic factors that a soldier crab would experience in a mangrove
forest.
6 Propose some possible effects on intertidal populations of global warming.
7 Outline the factors that determine population sizes.
8 Identify sampling techniques used to estimate population distribution and
abundance.
9 Identify an Australian species that is in decline. Discuss the reasons for
this decrease in numbers and propose possible management procedures for
conservation.
10 Investigate the percent cover of weed species on your school oval and on the
01122 and the random quadrat technique.
fringes of your oval using the transect technique
11 Construct a graph of your data and identify which sampling technique is more
accurate at representing the distribution and abundance of weeds.
12 Construct three food chains from the following food web:
Caterpillar
Bird
Sugar cane
Grasshopper
Slug
Fox
Snake
13 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the above food web when
talking about this community.
14 Construct a food web of your local ecosystem.
15 Define trophic level.
16 Define and give examples of consumers and producers.
17 Identify the organism in Question 12 that has the greatest biomass. Explain your
reasoning.
18 Describe a structural, a behavioural and a physiological adaptation of a platypus.
71
19 Identify an introduced species that is a pest in your local ecosystem. Describe its
influence on other species and outline possible control measures.
20 Identify forms of pollution in your local area. Outline some anti-pollution strategies
that have been successful.
A local ecosystem: assessment

Mini exam questions
1 Which of the following are parts of the physical environment?

A rock, sunlight, earthworm, salinity
B humidity, temperature, sunlight, salinity
C Eucalypt, caterpillar, spider, bird
D soil, dog, flea, temperature
2 In terms of feeding levels, kangaroos are:
A autotrophs
B decomposers
C parasites
D heterotrophs
3 Coral bleaches when the surrounding water gets very warm. This is because the tiny
algae that normally live inside the coral leave. The coral has a slower growth rate
without these algae. The association between the coral and its algae is called:
A parasitism
B commensalism
C mutualism
D predatorprey
4 An animals environment is best described as:
A its ecosystem
B its habitat
C the abiotic factors that affect it
D all the biotic and abiotic factors that influence its survival
5 Which of the following is correct?
A energy moves from producers to heterotrophs
B energy moves from heterotrophs to autotrophs
C when comparing trophic levels, producers have the least biomass
D decomposers recycle nutrients only to heterotrophs
6 Distinguish between sampling methods used for estimating populations of mobile
and sessile species.
7 You need to investigate differences in abundance in a local ecosystem. Design an
experiment to test the hypothesis that, if you sampled organisms on a rock platform,
you would find variation in species abundance at different heights on the shore.
8 Describe in detail how you would estimate the numbers of ants in a bushland area
or the number of woodlice living in a garden.
9 In a 2 hectare area of bushland five brown snakes were caught, marked and
released. Two days later, three snakes were caught, two of which were tagged.
Calculate the population density of snakes in this bushland. How could this
estimate be made more accurate?
10 During the growing season of tomatoes, green caterpillars ate young leaves and
caused much damage. Later, grasshoppers attacked the leaves with a vengeance.
Spiders ate both of these insects while magpies ate all three. Cockatoos and ringtailed possums also played havoc with the tomato crop by eating ripe tomatoes. At
this time a wedge-tailed eagle was seen to eat both bird species and the possum.
a Use the above information to construct a food web for the community.
b Identify a tertiary (third-order) consumer.
c Describe the consequence of removing the eagle from the system.
72
Test question with sample answers

Question
If you visited a local rock platform, outline how you would estimate the abundance and
distribution of the algae Neptunes necklace Hormosira banksii.
High range answer
Because Hormosira was seen on upper, mid and lower shores I would sample at these
heights and use percent cover as a measure of species abundance. To do this I would
randomly place a 0.5m 0.5m quadrat that had been divided into one hundred intersects
on the substratum. I would then count each intersect that overlapped algae as one per
cent and I would add up the total number of overlaps. To account for spatial variation
within shore levels I would measure percent cover of Hormosira at two areas at each of
low, mid and upper heights on the shore. In each of these areas I would use five 0.5m
0.5m quadrats (n = 5) to randomly estimate percent cover of the algae and I would record
the data on a table in the field. Later I would calculate the mean percent cover (n = 5)
of Hormosira for each area. I would then construct a graph illustrating the mean percent
cover of Hormosira in each of two areas at low, mid and upper heights on the shore (6 bar
graphs). If there was no real difference between estimations for each of the two areas at
each shore level I would pool the area data so that I had ten replicate samples (n = 10)
for mean percent cover at each shore level (three bar graphs). To account for variation
in abundance and distribution at different times I would go back to the rock platform in
three months time and measure Hormosira randomly again using the same experimental
design.
Satisfactory answer
I would go to the shore and use a quadrat to measure the percent cover of Hormosira
on upper and lower shores. To do this I would place a quadrat on the substratum and
calculate the percent cover of Hormosira. I would do this five times on the low shore
and five times on the upper shore. Later I would calculate the mean percent cover of
Hormosira for each shore level.
Practice assessment task

Students:

ecosystem in which the purpose is introduced, the methods described and the results
shown graphically and use available evidence to discuss their relevance
Does intertidal zonation exist?
Professor Tony Underwood, Director of the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of
Coastal Cities, University of Sydney has kindly permitted the inclusion of his following
essay on the myth of zonation (Underwood, A.J. 2000, Intertidal zonation of animals and
plants on rocky shores: one of the persistent myths taught in Australia, http://eicc.bio.
usyd.edu.au/news/index.html?Reflections_1.html, 4 October 2006).
His essay has been included here for your reference and to make it easier for you when
you are addressing the assessment questions. You will need, however, to access the EICC
website (shown above) to examine the figures in detail to help you answer the associated
questions in the assessment task on the next page.
73
Intertidal zonation of animals and plants on rocky shores:

one of the persistent myths taught in Australia
by Professor A.J. Underwood
In many fields of science, long-established truths
are ignored by everyone but scientists. Probably,
in many cases, this does not matter. Now and
then it does. Sometimes, however, it leads to
fairy stories being taught over and over again to
school students and in courses in Universities.
This may do no harm but sometimes leads to
such lack of understanding that our capacity to
act is limited by our incorrect knowledge. So, it
becomes important to identify and eradicate
myths.
One widespread myth is that the animals and
plants on rocky shores in south-east Australia
live in zones bands across the shore, parallel
with low-water levels. The zones have particular
names (the Littorina zone, the barnacle zone,
etc.) and, year after year, up and down our
coasts, thousands of students in schools and
Universities are dragged to the coast to see
the zones. As a result, they walk across the
shore oblivious to the patchiness, variation and
diversity of a remarkable set of animals and
plants to be shown something that is not there.
How could a set of zones be defined or

identified?
If animals and plants are in zones, each zone
must have some sort of boundary separating
it from another zone. It takes no great skill or
experience to notice that such boundaries are
not visible. For example, the littorinid zone is
supposed to be above the barnacle zone. The
small blue littorinid snails are often seen above
the level of barnacles. They also extend below
the top of the area occupied by barnacles. In fact,
the snails are often as numerous or even more
abundant in areas where there are barnacles
than above such areas. Go and look.
So, what is the point of describing them
as in a littorinid zone (where they may not be
74
at greatest numbers)? What is the point of

describing an area with numerous blue snails as a
barnacle zone?
The general scientific basis for determining
the existence of zones is well-known and of long
standing (see papers by Pielou and Routledge
(1976) and Underwood (1978) for details). Animals
and plants are not found over the whole range
of a shore. The model proposed to explain this
was that animals and plants are in zones, with
boundaries separating the species in one zone
from those in another. This leads to the testable
hypothesis or prediction that sampling the
extent of occupation of the shore of all species
will demonstrate the boundaries representing
border of zones. This is shown in diagram 1. Also
shown are the other possibilities that species
are distributed at random or that species have a
regular pattern of occupation of a shore.
So, distributions are sampled, upper and
lower limits of each species recorded and the
hypothesis can be tested. The technical and
statistical details can be found in the two papers
cited earlier. Whenever this has been done for
rocky shores, the results are consistent with
random scattering of distributions of species.
There certainly is NO evidence for zones!
The coloured lines show the range from highest to lowest

individual of 12 species (each species a different colour) on
a shore. In (a), they are zoned the species are in groups
with boundaries between zones; in (b) they are random;
in (c) the species have a regular arrangement.
Why do people think there are zones?

There are two reasons for this. First, people are
taught that zones exist and do not question
the truth of such a notion. Ideas like this are
called paradigms ideas that everyone believes
without questioning their truth. Some paradigms
are true (the sun does tend to rise every day),
some are not (the earth is not flat, even though
for hundreds of years everyone believed it).
Second, there is a great and natural desire for
us to want things to be simple. Describing the
rocky shore as having zones is a lot simpler than
having to describe all the species distributions.
Third, as found out years ago for plants up
the sides of mountains (Whittaker 1956), it is
easy to become confused about patterns. In
this diagram there are distributions of species
randomly up a shore. Examination at level A
would show species 2, 3, 4 and 5 to be present.
Examination at level B would show species 5, 6
and 7 to be present. So, such examination makes
it appear that there are different levels or zones
with different sets of species. But the species are
scattered randomly and independently there
are no boundaries between zones; there are no
zones.
Eight species are found on a shore. The height of the

curve indicates how many are found at each height. At
level A, you would see species 2, 3, 4 and 5. At level B, you
would see species 5, 6 and 7.
The final reason people think there are zones

is a product of the last one. Some species are
more conspicuous than others; they are bigger,
occupy more space, are more numerous or are
highly coloured. So, these species tend to get
noticed and all the others are less obvious. These
are then used to describe the area of shore the
barnacle zone, the littorinid zone, the cunjevoi
zone, etc.
Does it matter?
Of course it matters. Teaching myths is a poor
way to educate (except to educate about
myths). Oversimplifying ecology makes it less
well understood. Ignoring variation, randomness,
independence leads to no understanding of
the processes controlling where animals and
plants live. So, there can be no prediction of how
processes go wrong, how to stop environmental
impacts, how to understand or conserve
biodiversity or how to ensure the long-term
welfare of our coastal habitats.
Getting rid of wrong interpretation is one way
to help improve understanding.
For more information, please read:
Underwood, A.J. and M.G. Chapman (1995)
Coastal marine ecology of temperate Australia.
University of New South Wales Press.
For technical details read:
Pielou, E.C. & R.D. Routledge (1976) Salt marsh
vegetation; latitudinal gradients in the zonation
pattern. Oecologia, Vol. 24, pp. 311321.
Underwood, A.J. (1978) A refutation of critical
tidal levels as determinants of the structure of
intertidal communities on British shores. Journal
of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Vol.
33, pp. 261276.
Whittaker, R.H. (1956) Vegetation of the Great
Smoky Mountains. Ecology, Vol. 26, pp. 180.
1 Outline the concept of zonation of organisms living on intertidal marine rock

platforms.
5 marks
2 Many scientists, such as Professor Tony Underwood at the University of Sydney,
do not believe in the concept of zonation. Refer to the above essay and to other
references to discuss the validity of the concept of zonation.
10 marks
3 You should refer to a range of appropriate references and include a bibliography.

5 marks
75

NSW Biology 01

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

NSW Biology 01

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Preliminary

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

Although they have similar

What organisms are in your backyard?

Figure 1.2 School excursion at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, NSW

While you have recorded some of the

Chapter 1 A local ecosystem

Unit 1.1 Defining ecosystems

recall the biotic and abiotic features of the local environment

Figure 1.1.1 University

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

outcomes of field experiments. These experiments are designed to limit the

Chapter 1 A local ecosystem

but there may be large numbers of individuals within these populations.

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

What are populations and communities in

Vertical distribution of some organisms on a rock platform

Chapter 1 A local ecosystem

If you look in two rock pools

What is the difference between environment

Figure 1.1.7 The honeycomb barnacle

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

Abiotic and biotic factors

Review: 1.1 Defining ecosystems

particular environment and the interaction of

i The habitat is the specific place where an

i Abiotic factors are the non-living physical and

i Biotic factors are the living factors of an

Chapter 1 A local ecosystem

1 Identify two local ecosystems that you have

6 Identify your habitat where you live.

Unit 1.2 Terrestrial and aquatic

1.1 compare the abiotic characteristics of aquatic and terrestrial environments

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

It is difficult to move because water is It is easier to move because air is

Organisms need support to function

There is little difference in

Organisms experience a wide range of

If the surrounding water is too warm

Organisms are able to get enough

In freshwater, ample water and

The amount of rain and where an

Availability of gases, water and ions

In saltwater, dissolved ions are

The amount of ions available depends

Little light penetrates turbid, deep

Copious light is available in summer,

Organisms are exposed to more

There is less pressure on mountains

Storms cause high tides, strong

Exposure to extreme wind and rain

Organisms may need to shelter from

Organisms may need to shelter

Chapter 1 A local ecosystem

Figure 1.2.1 Their torpedo

Buoyancy is the support offered by a substance, such as liquid or gas, to

Figure 1.2.3 Skeletons

NSW Biology Preliminary Course

The largest animal ever to live

Figure 1.2.5 Whales are

Temperatures for Sydney and Penrith, 18/1/2003

Air temperature (C)

Figure 1.2.6 Temperatures