Leila Newton, Maryanne Bradshaw, Kellyanne Question 1 Definitions and Examples * habitat - a place where a creature naturally lives. A Black Swan naturally lives in a pond or stream. That is its habitat. * species - the lowest taxonomic classification where creatures have the most similarity, and the two sexes can breed. * community - all the species and populations inhabiting and interacting in the same area, like all the wheelie bins and their humans on San Mateo Ave. * population - all members of a species inhabiting a particular area, which can be local or global, like all of the redgums on Loch Island or all the redgums on the River Murray. * abundance - the number of creatures of the species in a set area or volume, the number of earthworms (20) in 10 cubic centimetres of soil. * distribution - the particular places of an area that are inhabited by a particular species, and the pattern of the inhabitation, * ecosystem - habitats, inhabitants, and the way that all the inhabitants of a defined habitat live and interact with each other. An ecosystem includes biotic and abiotic features. The water in a puddle, and the creatures swimming in it, and the creatures eating and drinking out of the puddle, all contribute to the ecosystem of the puddle. * ecology - the study of creatures and their habitats and how they interact with each other * biome - the first division of all of the land area of Earth, where the divisions are characterised by certain climatic conditions and certain types of life. The Taiga's average temperature for half of the year is below freezing, and the vegetation is dominated by conifers. * land unit - the classification system of landscape is divided into land units defined by dominant vegetation, soil type, and morphology. An example is the Mallee Dune Fields. * crepuscular - active at dusk and twilight, and before dawn, different to nocturnal. Bats are crepuscular and nocturnal. * detritus - debris made of organic material, dead creatures, and broken off rock, usually moved from the source. * autotrophs - a creature, usually a plant, like a tree, or shrub with green leaves, that gains its energy from the sun by photosynthesis. * heterotrophs - creatures, like cows, which cannot manufacture the complex organic compounds that they need to survive. * saprotrophs: synonymous with saprophytes, creatures that derive their nutrition from the dead and decaying remains, of something else that died, like fungus. * topography - classification and study of land based on its shape and dimensions, like height and depth from sea level, can also include other blobs on the landscape like trees and tors (rocks) * morphology - refers to the shape of the landscape and shapes of plants and animals * entropy - the amount of energy of a system unavailable to do work, for example, my housemate. * 1st Law of Thermodynamics - energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be tranferred or transformed * 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - but no system is totally efficient and entropy always increases and order decreases * steady state - describes a system where the throughputs of energy and matter are kept in balance by biofeedback mechanisms, like in my body. * littoral - the beach and the near shore environment. Mildura is an ancient littoral zone. Question 2 Contributions of different sciences to the study of the purple spotted gudgeon. 1. Ichthyology - study of fish, would bring information about the gudgeon 2. Entymology - study of insects, would be used because the fish eats insects 3. Hydrology - study of water processes, it was through the study of the Cardross Lakes that the gudgeon was found to be not extinct in North western Victoria, further hydrological study will be require to ensure its survival against the evils of irrigation 4. Hydrochemistry - chemistry of water, being a fresh water fish, the onset of salinity in any system is vital to the survival of its habitat. 5. Ecology - raises awareness of the interaction between all the things on the plant. 6. Statistics - gives helps in understanding breeding, and reproduction rates of the gudgeon, amongst other things. 7. Computer Science - Any kind of information gathered and utilised by ecologists in the study of the purple spotted gudgeon is likely to be analysed using computers. Question 3(a) Biotic and Abiotic Abiotic referrs to a thing or stuff (energy) that has never been alive, including being a part of something that was alive. Biotic referrs to stuff or a thing that is alive, was alive, and once was a part of something alive, or may even still be alive. For example: my saliva is biotic. Question 3(b) Abiotic: soil, rainfall, dissolved oxygen in a pond, bushfire. Biotic: leaf-litter, dead redgum, soil organisms, banjo frog, cat's piss, Banksia, Richard's Pipit, fungus, Darling River, Anthrax Question 4 Ecological Study of King's Billabong (a) Two dominant species of plant were: River Redgum, and River Cooba (b) Sketch map (c) Pattern of distribution. (d) 20 Species of critters 1. River Redgum - Eucalyptus Camaldulensis Tall tree, it was resting, 2. River Cooba - Acacia Stenophylla Stockier trees, pointier leaves, resting 3. Mallee Ringneck - Barnadius barnadi Yellow and green feathers, rare 4. Kookaburra - Dacelo noraeguinae Brown and white, small bird, blue on wings, distinctive laughing call Was laughing, roosting 5. Black Swan - Cygnus atratus Enormous black bird, long graceful neck, red bill, swimming, roosting 6. Intermediate Egret - Ardea intermedia White, medium sized, bird, long rubber neck, stalking 7. Little Black Cormorant - Phalacrocorax suliirostris Small black bird, flying 8. Little Eagle - Tliraaetus morphnoides Medium brown and white bird, flying 9. Meat Ant - Iridomyrmex purpureus Dark purple ant, seeking food 10. Bull Ant - Myrnecia nigrocincta Larger black ant, seeking food 11. Thrips - Thysanoptera Tiny grey insect, seeking food 12. Blowfly - Stomorhina Sp. 13. Tadpoles Little black and grey round things, with long pointy tails, swimming 14. Bees - Apis mellifera 15. Drooping Misltoe – Amyema pendula 16. Bulrush Height – 2 metres, dark green smooth leaves, tall as plant, flower – dark brown hard rod, rod goes fluffy when seeds are mature 17. Ruby Saltbush – groundcover, small leaves, grey colour, with small bright red berries which are good to eat 18. Groundcover – green leaves, purple and white flowers, very abundant 19. Reed – short plant, dark green hollow stalks, 20. Algae Question 5 Five Local Habitats 1. The Ecosphere, the habitat that we, human beings, naturally live in, and interact with every other plant, animal, fungus, and bacteria. Animals and humans eat plants. Bacteria and fungus eat humans and animals, and plants are enriched by composted animals and humans. 2. Habitat Australia: home to unique populations of koalas, and marsupials interacting with unique eucalypts as a community. 3. The River Murray and associated waterways: habitat to pelicans, carp, Murray Cod, gudgeon, cormorants, black swans, Redgums, other trees, human beings, houseboats and shopping trolleys. 4. San Mateo Ave: natural habitat of the wheelie bin, where the poulations of humans and wheelie bins interact on Tuesday nights forming a community. 5. My body: home of yeast, bacteria, fungi, virii, and parasites, living in a perfectly controlled homeostatic environment.