Preview

Biology Mangrove Assessment

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1129 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Biology Mangrove Assessment
Preliminary Biology Assessment task 2013
A Local Ecosystem
Mangrove Swamp
Cassandra Mandelik

Introduction:
A mangrove is a tree, shrub, palm or ground fern, generally exceeding the height of one and a half metres. They normally grow above mean (average) sea level in intertidal zones of marine coastal environments as well as estuarine margins. A mangrove also refers to the tidal habitat comprising of such trees and shrubs.
Australian mangrove systems are highly effecting by human presence and, thus can have a negative impact on the local ecosystem.
Australian mangroves, although they may not seem like much, play a vital role, and are an extremely important ecosystem. Mangroves, or intertidal forests are able to prevent erosion and stabilize sediment because of their ‘breathing roots’, as well as this they also filter run-off from the land to keep the water of other more commercialized placed clear. These are just a few reason of why the mangrove ecosystem is of importance so we are able to maintain the biotic features that a present.
The purpose of the investigation is to estimate population and distribution of mangroves, and nippers as well as recording salinity and temperatures of the water in this ecosystem.
Human impacts will also be investigated, as it has a drastic effect on
Method:
1. Measure abiotic features including salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen. This can be done using a datalogger with a temperature and a salinity probe attached and an oxygen meter. Record salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen at three separate sites in the mangrove ecosystem.
Focusing on one of the three sites, record the temperature over the course of 10 hours. 2. Analyze the flow over energy and matter in a mangrove swamp.

1. Estimate the size of a plant and animal population.
Plant- To estimate the population of the mangrove tree, two methods are used. First being a transect. A transect is performed by measuring a line (20 metres

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Minnamurra Lab

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Firstly, the elevation from quadrat 12 to 13 shows the zone shift from intertidal to above high tide, and from quadrat 13 onwards, the swamp she-oak is most dominant, which is even more evidence to show that it is in fact above high tide. There are also no mangroves past quadrat 13, as they reside in the intertidal zone. The mangroves are all over between quadrats 1-12, and with 100% soil moisture in all of those quadrats, that that is in fact the intertidal zone. The soil moisture varies in the last 4 quadrats since it is no longer in the intertidal…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fresh water coming from Big Cypress Swamp combines with the Salt water in the Gulf of Mexico to create conditions that allow an amazing variety of life to flourish in features such as oyster bars, mangrove islands, tidal mud flats, and seagrass beds. While tidal mud flats and sea grass beds are important features the most prominent are the Oyster bars and Mangrove Islands. The Oyster bars and Mangroves are crucial in creating and continuing to develop the islands and characteristics that make up this region. Oyster Bars are formed by quartz sand carried by the current and deposited in deeper water parallel to the shore and eventually builds until it reaches the surface. If the conditions are right oysters colonize the sand deposits and the combination of oysters and sand create an oyster bar. Oyster bars gather nutrients by forming at right angles to tidal currents in order to catch nutrients from the incoming currents. Smaller branches form on the Oyster Bars and floating red mangrove seeds take hold in the sediments. Eventually multiple mangroves are caught and grow on the Oyster bar forming an island of roots and leaves. Overtime the mangroves arching prop roots will catch more sediment and the island will continue to develop eventually cutting off nutrients to the Oyster bar by restricting the currents that bring nutrients to the oysters. These structures help protect the region during storms, prevent erosion, and create Habitats for birds and fish. This is why more than 300 species of bird at some point are residents of the region as well as manatees and bottle-nose…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    They can be found stretched across costal northern Australia. The average soil PH level at Myora Springs was eight which is consistent with the ideal conditions for the Red Mangroves. These type of mangroves form extensive, often pure stands around the shores of shallow bays. Preferring soft, well drained muddy soils. In North Queensland, Red mangroves are able to grow up to ten metres high, however it is most common to see five metre high trees; most likely because of the lower and sparser human population and density towards the coastlines. A main feature of this species is their stout, a large arching prop of roots that contain numerous lenticels (air pores) that support the main trunk and enable to tree to live. Red mangroves have adapted to their salient ecosystem by tolerating salt. They eliminate salt from their roots as water is occupied. Excess salt is then stored in the leaves and the tree sheds these leaves later on. Although the Grey mangrove can withstand much higher salt concentrations, both species lived side by side at Myora Springs. This is because the average soil PH level was eight, which is not high enough to stop the red mangrove from…

    • 1943 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Construct a survey of the study site in order to determine how the abiotic conditions change throughout the landscape. Develop a profile of the soil type, availability of light, wind and any other significant features using transects and instrumentation.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Madden’s Creek ecosystem is located at the beginning of George’s River and is found 60km south west of Sydney at an elevation of 350 meters above sea level. About 45% of the catchment contains large tracts of natural bush land. It is home to many species of flora and fauna creating a wide range of biodiversity that interlink and affect each other significantly. In this ecosystem there is a mixture of rural and recreational land uses which all have a significant impact on the biophysical interactions in the area.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A fragile environment is one which is easy to disrupt, and once disrupted, difficult to restore. An example of this kind of environment is the Sundarbans; the largest single block of mangrove swamp in the world, covering 10,000 km² from the coasts of West Bengal to Bangladesh. The mangrove swamps are sensitive to a number of factors, including temperature, salinity and sea level, where small changes may be able to cause huge impacts on the overall health and effectiveness of the swamps to protect the coastline and the 300,000 livelihoods that depend on it.…

    • 1459 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    For many years wetlands were seen as only a mosquito infested area. Nowadays they are highly valued ecosystems that are being protected for future generations of wildlife, and also people. A wetland is an area of land that is temporarily or permanently inundated. Sydney’s Bicentennial Park is home to 58ha of intertidal wetlands. Sydney Bicentennial Park is located within Homebush Bay (33 51' S, 115 33' E) and is approximately 12 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD. The intertidal wetland has formed along the southern edge of the Parramatta River. The 58 ha intertidal wetland is made up of 40 ha of mangrove forest, 10 ha of open, shallow water- the waterbird refuge and 8 ha of saltmarsh.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ecosystems are the dynamic interactions between plants, animals and microorganisms, and their environment working together as a functional unit. The Great Barrier Reef, an ecosystem that is particularly at risk, is a long, narrow system that stretches for 2000km along the northeast Australian coast. The formation of this ecosystem is attributed to the dynamics of weather and climate, and the geomorphic, hydrologic and Biogeographical processes within the region.…

    • 948 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -Mangrove forests: Tropical equivilent of salt marshes. Their interlacing roots are breeding grounds and nurseries for many important fishes…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    -These are characterised by short trees and very dense undergrowth. Mangrove forests thrive in the coastal areas and brackish swamps.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hastings Point

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As a result of natural or anthropogenic actions, habitat may be lost and degraded (Adrian, 2015). In turn, this causes changes in bio-diversity, the variation of life on earth and the interactions between these organisms, and accordingly, the cessation of ecosystem services (World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), 2015). Hastings’ Point is a biodiversity hotspot, and home to various threatened and endangered ecological communities (Department of the Environment , 2015). Although highly regulated in NSW, the clearing of all types of vegetation has placed Australia in the top ten land clearing nations in the world. In the past, between the years of 1984 and 1989, the Western Lands Commission allowed clearing licenses for over 560,000 hectares along the NSW Coast, particularly the Hastings Point (Figure. 1) (Department of Primary Industries, 2015) (Evans, 2015). This clearing increases sedimentation of waterways, erosion and lowers the quality of water in that of estuaries and ocean areas (NSW Government , 2015). Additionally, impoundments trap sediment eroded from upstream regions, resulting in potential downstream erosion, thus, stream bed depressing, and reducing habitat variability downstream (NSW Government , 2015). Consequently, this leads to the direct loss of native…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Over time, reef management strategies have been introduced to help with the preservation and conservation of the reef, these strategies include traditional and contemporary management. Traditional management was when the Aboriginal people had complete control over the land, the indigenous people’s management included great admiration for the land, treating it with respect and using only justifiable amounts of food and materials. This was a sustainable and successful management strategy used to conserve and preserve the GBR. Contemporary management included reef exploitation, un-sustainable usage of materials, disregard for pollution and un-policed fishing which led the GBR to be at risk (GENETIC DIVERSITY, UTILITY VALUE, INTRINSIC VALUE AND HERITAGE VALUE AS ALL REASONS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE GBR)…

    • 1670 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    This is currently the largest and most biodiverse ecosystem in the world, spanning across 348 000 square kilometres of Australia’s Northeast coast. Starting from the top of Cape York (10 degrees 41’ S, 145 degrees E) 2300km down to just north of Bundaberg. Billions of coral polyps form the basis of this intricate biodiverse marine ecosystem, relying heavily on complex biophysical interactions resulting in its vulnerability. There a number of factors leading up to stresses placed upon this ecosystem in particular, human induced…

    • 1912 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is also lots of flora in the tropical rainforests. Next there is mangrove swamps. There are also different types of mangroves. A mangrove is where different types of plants and shrubs grow in saline water. Add a good site…

    • 1493 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    River runoff from the land: Cane farmers in northern Queensland have had to reverse the cycle of the wetlands so that the water leaves the land quickly, in order for their cane crops to survive. The problem with the water leaving quickly, though, is that it drags the topsoil and various other harmful agricultural chemicals with it. That dirty water then filters into the river catchments that feed the Great Barrier Reef. This water turns into mud, algae and bacteria that settle on the living coral organisms. It then smothers the animal and eventually kills it.…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics