Life Sciences Grade 12 Investigative Research

As decades continued to pass by the wetlands change. "People have begun to realize that wetlands are valuable and productive ecosystems that fulfill an essential function for both humans and wildlife. Due to their unique characteristics, wetlands can support a wide diversity of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. They also control floodwaters and protect us from storms and hurricanes. Wetlands also improve water quality by filtering, cleaning and storing water. Lastly, many people rely on wetlands for their livelihood, as they are important centers for hunting, fishing and recreation." Referring to this from "Wetlands and Habitat Loss", we now see how wetlands are valuable and helpful to the ecosystem. The wetlands are known for our water source. Many people depend on the Everglades for a water source. We also use the Everglades for activities. These activities include fishing, recreation, and

Baldwin swamp is an urban wetland, located in the heart of Bundaberg, providing a habitat to a range of organisms. The environment is rich in biodiversity; with more than 150 species of birds, variety of vegetation/plants as wells as creatures and mammals ranging from tiny aquatic wrigglers to bats, which have recently inhabited the area. Wetlands can be swamps, boys and or areas next to creeks. The Baldwin swamp can be best described as a network of ponds/swamps that channels into landscapes of grassland. This area has a significant ecological impact as the relationships among the organisms in relation to their food webs is vital to their survival. Abiotic factors such as humidity, soil, pollution, Ph levels, temperature, dissolved oxygen

Giving full credit to restricting the Mississippi River as the culprit for loss of wetlands is not accurate. The booming oil and gas exploration of the 1970’s and 1980’s merits a name on the marquee as well. The pipelines and canals used to transport the resources to the outside world placed a great deal of stress on the fragile wetlands. Erosion from the barges in and out of the marshes as well as the salt water allowed into the fresh water, providing a precarious habitat for fresh water species – flora and fauna alike. Plants provide root systems to hold soil in place. Fish and fowl provide an economy for the area. Enter

Wetlands provide fish and wildlife habitat. It supplies food water, along with areas that can be used for nesting or resting. Wetlands also act as a aquifer recharge and discharge area. They are able to recharge groundwater or excess groundwater is able to discharge into the wetland. Wetlands act as flood storage when rainfall and snowmelt leave an excess of water around and no place to go.

By the end of this report you should have a better perception on the geological landscape of Silver Creek Wetland Complex, and further in-depth knowledge on what stewardship responsibilities fall on you and your relationship with the land you use.

Zonation is the distribution of animals and plants into specific zones according to abiotic factors and characterised by its dominant species [15]. Mangrove zonation is the distinguishable categorisation of a mangrove ecosystem that extends from shore to inland regions. Definitive spatial variation of mangrove species has been recognised amongst different ecosystems worldwide and is accredited as being influenced by abiotic and environmental factors [16]. In Eastern Australia, the majority of mangrove forests may be divided into landward, middle and seaward zones, based off of their placement in relation to tidal position. The following points represent the typical physiognomies characterised by mangroves in their corresponding zones:

Ecosystem is an important part of the environment and to protect the Australian native ecosystem many management plans are made to preserve it. Where the disruption occurred in the environment by human activities is not only the factor of worry, but also the exotic plants which are trying to take over the native species are a matter of concern too. The steps taken by humans to get rid of their own waste from the environment as well as the weeds, come under management plans. On the excursion to Buckley’s Hole, Godwin Beach, Red Beach and Melaleuca Wetland, it was observed that these areas come under the Buckley’s Hole Management Plan. Where the abiotic and biotic factors interact with each other and help in sustainability of better environment.

Based on research completed by University of Minnesota soil scientists, the state mandates that every wetland should be protected by a 50-foot buffer zone. The City of Lilliput, a rural town located 30 miles north of St. Cloud, Minnesota, increased the buffer zone to150 feet in1990 within their municipality. The rationale behind Lilliput’s increase was because the town is zoned for predominantly rural uses, i.e. farming and cattle ranching. Due to the animal wasted and farmers’ use of pesticides on their crops, the Town Council felt that increasing the buffer around surrounding wetlands would better protect it from these sources of contamination than would the state minimum of 50

Louisiana should be concerned about the wetlands because of the wildlife and fisheries. Without it, Louisiana would not be able to supply seafood and wildlife. Another concern, is the land going under and people could lose their homes. According to Allured and Martin, “the destruction of the wetlands came from the coastal and offshore oil and gas development” (p.332). Also, there is some thought that humans play a role in the destruction. According to Allured and Martin, “swamps symbolize as dark and chaotic places of the earth” and “marsh as a type of wet area that harbored disease” (p. 333). The importance of ascertaining the cause of the vanishing wetlands is to help restore the wetlands and protect from a hurricane

They provide education facilities for public such as learning centre (classroom), or outdoor shelter in the education area, toilets located in the learning centre and in the car park, etc. The activities provided also very fun and visitors will enjoy learning in the wetland. They have designed some packaged to schoolchildren which are they can choose their own needs. These curriculum activities could encourage huge schoolchildren to visit the wetland. The public could attract with the curriculum activities provided in the wetland. These activities can increase the awareness of wetland conservation among children and

The overall purpose of the lab is to have the students practice designing an experiment, gathering data, and then analyzing that data to form a conclusion using the scientific method. It also served to understand key terms such as hypothesis, dependent variable, and independent variable. The specific objective of this lab is to determine whether certain human body parts experience allometric or isometric growth. Allometric growth defines when certain parts of an organism grow at unequal rates in comparison to its whole, while isometric growth is when all parts of an organism grow at the same rate in comparison to the entire organism. The specific purpose of the lab is to determine whether or not specific human body parts experience allometric or isometric growth by comparing the ratios of height to two specific body parts, in the students’ case the right hand length and head circumference, in students and newborns. The students formulated the tentative answer that if a team of four compared their height to right hand length ratio, as well as, their height to head circumference ratio, to those of a newborn’s, then the students will discover that the right hand and head experience allometric growth in humans.

Below is some valuable information that we believe you should know about constructed treatment wetlands (CTWs). This will include the value of CTWs, how they work, the different types of CTWs, and some examples of CTWs in use today.

Wetland soils are extremely varied. They are found from the tropics to the subarctic. They can be seasonal or year-round, freshwater or saltwater, organic or mineral. The one thing that all of them have in common is that for at least part of the year they are saturated with water. This saturation has a significant impact on the soil's physics, chemistry, and biota. However, over the past century more than half of all the wetlands in the United States has been drained for agriculture and other uses such as construction. When the soils are drained the physics, chemistry, and biota are drastically changed. This paper is an attempt to

4. Dried leaves were retrieved and weighed. The total tissue loss from initial weight before submersion until now was recorded. Class inputs data and a class mean and standard deviation of tissue loss/ day was gathered for both wetlands for each species

In this article it speaks about many different types of indicators that one could see in order to determine the ecological state of the wetland by my factors such as the biodiversity, pollution levels, the fauna and flora in the wetland. This relates to our wetland as we have a large biodiversity in our wetland with little pollution as well as plants such as reeds growing which indicate a healthy wetland. We also occasionally see a large variety of birds in our wetland therefore another indicator that our wetland is healthy.