Ecological

StudyAchievement Standard Science 1.12

4 Internal Credits

Ms Gibellini

Achievement Standard

describes observations or findings;

uses findings to identify change in environmental

factors; and

describes how changes in environmental factors

affect organisms.

Uses findings and biological ideas and makes

significant causal links between changed

environmental factors and the ecosystem

characteristics or process including the impact on

organisms and the implications for the ecosystem as

a whole

SLO Describe the components of an ecosystem, including

abiotic and biotic factors

Define ecological niche and give examples

Draw food chains and webs and identify keystone species and effects of changes on systems

Describe intra and inter specific relationships within a community

Discuss the importance of diversity within a populations

Identify the impacts humans can have on ecosystems

Discuss the effects of urbanisation, on the above factors of an ecosystem

Carry out measuring of abiotic and biotic factors

Graph and interpret data

TermsTerm Definition

Abiotic Non living

Biotic Living

Ecosystem All the non living and living things within a

large defined area

Population A group of interbreeding organisms

Substrate The ground contents (soil, concrete, sand)

Urbanisation Removal of natural habitat to build

houses, roads, foot paths

Erosion Break down and removal of soil particles

Intraspecific Relationships within the same species

interspecific Relationships between species

SLO

Describe the components of an

ecosystem, including abiotic and biotic

factors

Abiotic vs biotic factorsAbiotic

non living

Temperature

Light intensity

Moisture

Substrate

Chemicals/pH

Biotic Predators

Prey

Courtship and

mating behaviours

competition

Success Criteria

List the abiotic factors

School Grounds

Esby Park

List the biotic factors

School Grounds

Esby Park

Success Criteria List the abiotic factors

School Grounds

sand, gravel nearby, housing, high temperature, high light, high winds, dusty, low pH, low dissolved oxygen, high turbidity, no leaf litter, little variation to stream shape

Easby Park

Low light, large rocks, clay, leaf litter, low winds, low temperatures, high rainfall, high dissolved oxygen, faster flowing stream, irregular shape and bottom, steep cliff on side of stream

List the biotic factors

School Grounds

Low diversity, snails, worms, grass, flax, algae

Easby

Mayfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs, damsel flies leaf litter, freshwater crayfish, native tree – five finger, titoki, beech, broadleaf, ferns, pungas, fallen trees (rotting) near/on bank

SLO

Define ecological niche

and give examples

Ecological Niche

An organisms ecological niche includes:

- Where it lives

- What it eats

- Its predators

- Adaptations it has to help it survive

- When its active (day or night)

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIVixvcR4Jc

Success CriteriaResearch and find out:

Describe the ecological niche of

Mayfly nymph Healthy Stream

Herbivore, lives under rocks, fast moving water, predators are fish and birds, active day and night, hooks to hold onto rocks so doesn’t get washed away, gills so it can breath underwater, cannot tolerate poor water quality

Worm Polluted Stream

Eats mud and plants, breaths through body walls, can regrow parts, tolerate poor water quality

(Where it lives, What it eats, Adaptations it has to help it survive, When its active (day or night), what eats it

SLO

Draw food chains and webs

and identify keystone

species and effects of

changes on systems

Food webs

show all the

food chains

within an

ecosystem

Success Criteria Write a food chain for

Healthy streamPhytoplankton case caddis small fish heron

Polluted StreamDetris worms eel

How does increasing the amount of leaf litter falling into a stream affect the food web?

- Overhanging trees drop leaves into stream, increases numbers of mayflies, caddis, midges and therefore numbers of stoneflies, small fish, large fish, birds, eels

How does removing the habitat for nymphs affect the food web?

- No overhanging trees, no leaves to hide in, digger clears stream bed, decreases number of nymphs as nowhere to hide, this decreases diversity (number of species living there and results in poor stream health and puts the ecosystem at risk of collapse.

SLO

Describe intra and inter

specific relationships

within a community

Relationships Intra specific – within the same species

Competition

Mating/courtship

Parental care

Inter specific – between species Competition

Predation/prey

Symbiosis - mutualism

SLO

Discuss the importance of

diversity within populations

Diversity

Diversity – differences

In order to survive environmental changes

it is essential that populations have

differences

Populations with limited diversity are much

more susceptible to extinction

Success Criteria

Describe the diversity above and below

the reservoir?

What could the council do to improve the

diversity below the reservoir?

SLO

Identify the impacts humans can have on ecosystems

Discuss the effects of urbanisation, on the above factors of an ecosystem

Human Activities

Urbanisation – building of houses, roads,

foot paths, construction of pipes

(sewerage, power, water) drainage

Deforestation – large scale removal of

trees

Pollution – air, soil, water

Impact of Humans on Streams

Increase erosion – removal of bank vegetation

Removal of habitat – artificial channels

Increased pesticides – runoff from farms, homes

Increased nitrates – run off from farms, homes

Reduce clarity – erosion and run off, storm water drains

Reduction in pH – run off from homes

Increase in sun light and temperature – tree removal

Impact of Urbanisation

Reduced habitats, loss of riparian zones

Increased turbidity

Increased erosion (loss of riparian zones)

Movement or death of sensitive species

Loss of key species within food web, leads

to loss of other species

Reduced diversity

Rapid changes in river flow

Success Criteria

List the abiotic and biotic factors of

Reservoir stream

For each state how urbanisation has

affected them

04/03/2015

Pollution Indicators

In dirty water leeches

and midges will survive

In average water more

species (like the

dragonfly and cranefly)

will survive

In clean water a lot

more species (like the

mayfly and caddisfly)

will survive

The quality of water can be monitored by looking

at the species of insect in the water:

TermsTerm Definition

Abiotic Non living

Biotic Living

Ecosystem All the non living and living things within a large

defined area

Population A group of interbreeding organisms

Substrate The ground contents (soil, concrete, sand)

Urbanisation Removal of natural habitat to build houses, roads, foot

paths

Erosion Break down and removal of soil particles

Intraspecific Relationships within the same species

interspecific Relationships between species

Riparian Zone 10 m either side of river, abiotic and biotic features

Tolerance and Limiting Factors

Limiting Factors – factor in environment that restrict

growth of an organism

What are some of the factors that make living in a

stream difficult?

Carrying Capacity – the number or organism an

environment can sustain

Tolerance of Stream Organisms

Aquatic macroinvertebrates are good indicators of

stream quality because:

They are affected by the physical, chemical, and

biological conditions of the stream.

They can't escape pollution and show the effects of

short- and long term pollution events.

They may show the cumulative impacts of pollution.

They may show the impacts from habitat loss not

detected by traditional water quality assessments.

They are a critical part of the stream's food web.

Some are very intolerant of pollution.

They are relatively easy to sample and identify.

Abiotic Factors

For each of the abiotic factors listed, describe how

they might be altered and the effect on specific

(named) marcro invertebrates this change might

have:

- Stream flow

- Dissolved Oxygen

- Temperature

- pH

- Turbitidy

- Substrate

Stream Flow and Dissolved Oxygen Sped up by concreting the sides of the chanel,

removing debris, daming and releasing water upstream, how water level

Slowed down by reducing water level, increasing debris,

Fast flowing water brings in but can also wash away food, silt and debris

Fast flowing water tends to have a higher oxygen content and lower temperature

Macro invertebrates that breath using gills (mayflies, stoneflies, dobsonflies) need to have a constant fresh supply of oxygenated water

Snails prefer slow moving water with lots of algae to feed on

Temperature

Temperature is affected by the flow of the stream,

the amount of bush overhanging the stream and the

time of the year

Temperature also affects the amount of dissolved

oxygen in the water, the warmer the water the less

oxygen it holds

Low temperatures can slow the metabolism of some

macro inverts

High temperatures can also kill some macro inverts

Substrate

Turbitidy

Two sites at a lake

were sampled.

One site was near

a popular camping

spot, the other site

part way around

the lake where

access was more

difficult.

Biological Impact

Practice Question

Site near camping spot

Second site

Macroinvertebrates found

Camping Site Sensitivity

ScoreIsolated Site Sensitivity

Score

Worms – 7 1 Mayflies – 3 4

Crustaceans –

2

2 Dragon flies – 2 3

Midges/sandfli

es – 8

1 Midges/sandflie

s – 7

1

Snails -5 2 Crustaceans – 3 2

Caddis fly – 4 3

Water beetles -

2

3

Damsel flies – 4 3

Total found =

22

Total found = 23

Practice Question

Describe the abiotic and biotic factors

for the two sites

List organism found

Why are some organism found at one

location and not the other?

What impact does the lack or over

population of certain organism have

on the ecosystem as a whole?

Internal Assessment

Task 1 – Collect data

Task 2 – Process Data

- tabulate data, graph it, average

- calculate tolerance

Task 3 – Write a report on effects of abiotic

factors on biotic factors

Data ProcessingDevelop a table to record the similarities and

differences in the environmental factors in the two

areas of the freshwater ecosystem. For some

factors averages for each area may have to be

calculated:

Location Temp Turbidity Dissolved O2

Light Level

pH Substrate Speedof Flow

Pollution Tolerance Rating

Healthy Stream

17’C +1m 14 mgL-1 Low/med

7.2 Fast

Polluted Stream

14’C +1m 10 mgL-1 V. High 7.8 Slow

For each area of the freshwater ecosystem, calculate the percentage of the total present for each macro-invertebrate.

To do this, divide the number of macro-invertebrates in the area by the total number of macro-invertebrates found in that area.

eg. % mayflies = number of mayflies found x 100

total number of macro-invertebrates

Record this information in a table and draw a bar graph to compare all the data from each of the two areas.

Calculate the pollution tolerance index for each area and determine the water quality of each area.

The Pollution Tolerance Index (PTI) uses indicator organisms and their tolerance to pollution (called a sensitivity score) to give an assessment of water quality. To calculate the pollution tolerance index for each area multiply the number of types of organisms in each tolerance level by their sensitivity score (4, 3, 2 or 1).

For example:

In a sample that contains mayflies (tolerance score 4), stoneflies (tolerance score 4), caddis fly (tolerance score 3) and some diptera (tolerance score 1), the calculation would be:

2 x 4 (2 different types of organisms each with tolerance scores of 4 ie Mayflies and

stoneflies)

+ 1 x 3 ( 1 type of organism with a tolerance score of 3 ie caddis fly)

+ 1 x 1 (1 type of organism with a tolerance score of 1 ie diptera).

Pollution Tolerance Index = (2 x 4) + (1 x 3) + (1 x 1) = 8 + 3 + 1 = 12

PTI Value Water Quality Rating

23 and above Excellent

17 – 22 Good

11 – 16 Fair

10 or less Poor

Now compare your calculated pollution tolerance index (PTI) with

the scale below:

PTI

Pollution tolerance indicator tells us how

many different kinds of species are found

The more species, the more diverse, the

healthier the river

It also tells us how many pollution sensitive

organisms are found

The more pollutant sensitive species, the

higher the PTI and therefore the healthier

the stream

Your task:1. Calculate the Pollution Tolerance index

at each site and find out the water

quality.

2. Calculate the percentage of the total

for each species at each site and draw

a bar graph of this data for each site.

3. Write a paragraph about the health of

the lake at the two different sites,

based on what we have learned.

Reporting

Use your observations and finds from Tasks 1 and 2 and biological ideas about ecology to write a report on the impact of urbanisation on water quality and the diversity of organisms in a freshwater ecosystem.

In the report:

Use all your findings and your own ideas to make significant causal links to explain the impact of urbanisation on the two areas studied along the Reservoir creek. The effects on the stream may be differing environmental factors (including water quality) which may have had implications for the ecosystem as a whole.

Report Format

Introduction

Describe what an ecosystem is

What is urbanisation

When urbanisation started and how much residential

development has occurred down the Reservoir

Creek.

Map (of entire length of stream) and names of

locations you will be discussing

Method:

Briefly outline what you did/how

you collected data, where,

Results:

Put your tabulated results here

Graphs

Put your profile diagram here

Include a few pictures – you

need to say what they show

Discussion

Describe abiotic and biotic features of both areas

Discuss how they are different

Discuss what has caused the differences in both abiotic and biotic features (urbanisation)

How does urbanisation affect streams? (ie increases run off)

What are the general impacts of urbanisation on streams

Why is diversity important to ecosystems

The fauna (animals) and flora (plants) that made up the Reservoir Creek ecosystem before any urbanisation.

Specifically link environmental changes to changes in species found

Discuss the importance of these differences on the ecosystem as a whole (diversity)

Use actual data from your tables to illustrate changes,

You need to discuss differences between the two sites surveyed.

Your discussion must be related to the effects on the ecosystem due to urbanisation.

Excellence:Abiotic Factor Link Biotic Factor Ecosystem

(because) (causing) (resulting in)

Effect Cause Result Impact on Ecosystem as a whole

Eg.

High temp Trees removed (no shade) reduced oxygen in

water, loss(migration or extinction) of some macro invertebrates as they prefer cooler water reduces diversity in ecosystem and

puts whole ecosystem at risk

(Remember to compare this with above the reservoir)

Flash Flooding narrowing of stream channel, increase run off

due to urbanisation removal of food source and macro

invertebrates reduces diversity in ecosystem

Conclusion:

Summarise the body

- using biological ideas to make significant causal links between the changed environment factors and ecological characteristic or processes to explain the impact on organisms and the implications on the ecosystem as a whole

- How has the river changed and what caused the change and what are the long term implications of this change?

- Suggestions of what could be done to improve the stream

Achievement Standard

describes observations or findings;

uses findings to identify change in environmental

factors; and

describes how changes in environmental factors

affect organisms.

Uses findings and biological ideas and makes

significant causal links between changed

environmental factors and the ecosystem

characteristics or process including the impact on

organisms and the implications for the ecosystem as

a whole