Term Paper On The Greenock Region, South Australia

The bar chart was used to compare the number of species in each transect. In transect A, there were 5 different species. The species in this area were mostly grass, forbs, moss, bugs and beetles. Bugs and beetles made up a small population of this transect. In transect B, there were also 5 species. The species were mostly grass, shrubs, forbs, moss and bugs. In this transect, shrubs were found which makes transect B more diversed than A. In Transect C, 8 species were located in this area. The species included shrubs, grass, fobs, evergreen, trees, dirt, bugs and spiders. New species such as evergreen, trees, dirt and spiders were located in this location. Therefore the test that diversity happens through ecological succession was

might affect the fitness of each variant. In other words which factors might increase plant growth, survival,

There are many factors that account for the changes to the vegetation over time within ecosystems in the British Isles, such as human activity, climate, soil, light availability and intensity and natural disasters. The characteristics of the vegetation that are influenced by these factors are height, distribution, variety of species, adaptations and density of the vegetation. Some of these factors have relatively little influence on the succession development, whereas others have a dramatic influence over a long period of time, such as human activity. These factors, over time, result in the progression of a succession until the climatic climax vegetation is reached. However, sometimes these factors can mean that a plagioclimax is reached,

In our experiment of field ecology at A-mountain, the purpose were to understand the specific factors that affect the distribution and abundance of plant species at north facing slope and south facing slope. The availability of plants in certain area depends on temperature, availability of water, sunlight and nutrients. A-mountain which is in Arizona has different desert plant that includes; grass, brittlebush, bursage, creosote bush, mesquite, palo verde, fishhook barrel, hedgehog, pincushion, teddy bear cholla, staghorn cholla, chain fruit cholla, prickly pear and others.. and some are specifically found on either north or south side of the mountain. The fact that the south slope receive more direct sunlight than the north facing slope, soil moisture will evaporate faster in south side of the mountain than in the north side thus the availability of different drought resisting plant whereas in north side where there is a slower evaporation due to lack of direct sunlight hence few drought resistant plants compared to south side (Wyant, unpublished data). We predicted that to the south side of the mountain there be will more diversity, evenness and drought tolerant plants species than the north side.

This is constructed by planting different type of plant species in the same proximal area that will benefit both plant species, establishing a mutualistic relationship. The nurse plant effect can be applied to further examine how the habitat structure of PLL flowers beds along different gradient influence invertebrates (Hai et al 2008)

The Mallee region of Victoria is situated in North-West Victoria and covers an area of around 44,000 square kilometres. The region is known to be associated with the adjacent land of South Australia and New South Wales and is also recognised to join with the Wimmera and Loddon regions of Victoria. Also, because of the large area which the region covers and the diversity it beholds, it is sometimes distinguished into two sub-regions, the north and the south. Whilst 38% of the land is occupied by the public, only 1% of the remaining 62% is protected from grazing animals and only 3.04% retains native vegetation. ????????

On the edge, tree densities were lower than the interior part of the forest. Fragmenting causes land to have more edges, affecting plants and animals in a negative way (Laurance 1-2). A climax species like the White Spruce grows in the northern part of North America. It grows in a variety of conditions with different types of soils and climates (Zasada 1-2). Fragmentation of land negatively effects the reproduction of the White Spruce. A reduction of an area size can reduce the number of seeds in a cone. In order to maintain a healthy site for White Spruce, the key is to make sure there are at least 200 other active reproducing trees in the same area. Fragmentation effects biodiversity in a negative way as well (O’Connell 8). Fragmentation is affecting both edge obligate and climax obligate species in a negative way. The interior part of the forest needs to remain large enough to still have cover. Fragmentation causes edges, which allows more problems to occur due to the open areas surrounding the forests. The White Spruce and the Eastern Cottontail are very similar on the way fragmentation affects

Lakes and ponds are not common and occupy less than one percent of the surface. On the other hand, due to the severe climate and shallow body of soil, vegetations, up in the North are commonly sparse, ground-hugging and dwarf-like in form. The low variety of vegetation, which the diversity of plants yields only about 150 species, makes this region a barren plain. The main vegetation in upland areas consists of lichens and herbs, whereas water lowland sites will be predominated by sedges and mosses. Moreover, this land is also lacking the diversity of wildlife, that the limitation on plants greatly restricts food which inhibiting animals can consume. In fact, the habitat for a few animals

Light is also plays a huge role , in area 1 the slope was facing north . In area 2, the slope was facing southwest which makes a huge difference in the amount of light received by the plants in the areas. The slope that was facing north generally gets less light in comparison to the southwest since it gets the bulk of the sun.This alone tells that in area 2 there is much more light available for plants to uptake and do photosynthesis than in area 1. This further proves that in area 2 is able to hold more species which supports that it has more diversity than in area

In 1984, Dwight Brown presented his research that looked at the various types of grass phytoliths. Brown was particularly interested in looking at the migration rates of particular species of grass. He felt that the rates could indicate weather conditions. Brown looked at three shape classes of grass phytoliths: bilobates, saddles and trapezoids (Brown 1984: #4, 345). From his studies, Brown concluded that fluctuations in the ratios of phytolith shapes could indicate shifts in the environment to which the phytoliths belonged (Brown 1984: #4, 345). He also concluded that it was

Of the multitude of labs and experiments performed in this class, each and every one of them exemplifies at least one aspect of the Nature of Science. One particular facet of the Nature of Science is that “Science is data driven (empirical), but also inferential.” This statement simply means that science consists of data that is obtained through mere observation and experimentation, but science also consists of inferences made from existing data. One example of an experiment conducted in this class in which the science was data driven was the Measure Twice, Cut Once lab. In this lab, plant diversity in a lawn ecosystem was measured using diversity indices such as species richness, percent cover, and species frequency just to name a few. In order to calculate and analyze the various diversity indices, empirical data was collected by dividing the lawn ecosystem into sixteen quadrats and physically observing the plants present in each quadrat.

Diversity dependence depends on trophic cascades and the top down (natural enemies) or bottom up (resources available). Top down is the approach where species increase and so does peats and predators and as a result of increased pests the plant density decrease. Bottom up is the approach where the plant population increases, resources will run out, such as nutrients, water and light due to the competition of a higher populated area. The vegetable block would have higher nutrient contents due to added fertiliser during the season and low competition due to a lower plant population is shown by the higher percentage of bare ground demonstrated in figure two. This land area will also have a lower water due to tillage, which dries out the soil moisture. A resource that would be available in the woodland would be shade due to a highly populated area. As the smaller plant species would be in shade most of the time, it would result in a lower photosynthetic rate resulting in a slower development (Martins et al.,

As the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)in Australia is the natural heritage, whose ecosystem is subject to

E) support biological communities similar to those found at higher elevations on similar south-facing slopes.

For my plot I wanted a small area so I could really observe the changes in specific plants and animals. At the beginning of my plot observations I tried to listen to the sounds around me. I noticed that during week one there weren't any birds chirping. Towards the middle weeks of my observations I started to heard birds and continued to hear them for during the rest on my plot observations. The plants in my plot appeared crowded in week one, but became less dense as the weeks rolled on. I think this is due to the changing of the seasons and plants losing their leaves. It could also be because of competition since a couple of the plants died that were smaller. As the plant population became less dense the amount of ground you could see became