MODULE 4:

ECOSYSTEM DYAMICS

Dr. [Link]
Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

MODULE 4
Population Dynamics
Inquiry question: What effect can one species have on the other species in a community?

Students:
● investigate and determine relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem, including:
(ACSBL019)
– the impact of abiotic factors (ACSBL021, ACSBL022, ACSBL025)
– the impact of biotic factors, including predation, competition and symbiotic relationships (ACSBL024)
– the ecological niches occupied by species (ACSBL023)
– predicting consequences for populations in ecosystems due to predation, competition, symbiosis and
disease (ACSBL019, ACSBL020)
– measuring populations of organisms using sampling techniques (ACSBL003, ACSBL015)
● explain a recent extinction event (ACSBL024)

Past Ecosystems
Inquiry question: How do selection pressures within an ecosystem influence evolutionary change?

Students:
● analyse palaeontological and geological evidence that can be used to provide evidence for past changes in
ecosystems, including but not limited to:
– Aboriginal rock paintings
– rock structure and formation
– ice core drilling
● investigate and analyse past and present technologies that have been used to determine evidence for past
changes, for example: (ACSBL005)
– radiometric dating
– gas analysis
● analyse evidence that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the past by examining and
interpreting a range of secondary sources to evaluate processes, claims and conclusions relating to the
evolution of organisms in Australia, for example: (ACSBL005, ACSBL027)
– small mammals
– sclerophyll plants
● investigate the reasons for changes in past ecosystems, by:
– interpreting a range of secondary sources to develop an understanding of the changes in biotic and
abiotic factors over short and long periods of time (ACSBL025, ACSBL026)
– evaluating hypotheses that account for identified trends (ACSBL001)

Future Ecosystems
Inquiry question: How can human activity impact on an ecosystem?

Students:
● investigate changes in past ecosystems that may inform our approach to the management of future
ecosystems, including:
– the role of human-induced selection pressures on the extinction of species (ACSBL005, ACSBL028,
ACSBL095)
– models that humans can use to predict future impacts on biodiversity (ACSBL029, ACSBL071)

– the role of changing climate on ecosystems

● investigate practices used to restore damaged ecosystems, Country or Place, for example:
– mining sites
– land degradation from agricultural practices

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

MODULE 4- ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS

4.1 POPULATION DYNAMICS

Questions Inquiry question 1: What effect can one species have on the other species in a community?

• investigate and determine relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in an

ecosystem, including:
o the impact of abiotic factors
o the impact of biotic factors, including predation, competition and symbiotic
relationships
o the ecological niches occupied by species
o predicting consequences for populations in ecosystems due to predation,
competition, symbiosis and disease
o measuring populations of organisms using sampling techniques
DEFINE terms
related to DEFINITIONS
ecosystems
Ecology - The study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment.

Biosphere - any part of the Earth where organisms live. The biosphere includes the
lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Biome - a geographic region that has separate but similar ecosystems characterized by a
distinct climate. Climate of a location determines which types of organisms are able to
live there.

The major biomes on Earth include:

tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, desert, grassland, deciduous forest, coniferous

forest, tundra, estuary, savanna, and taiga

Ecosystem - the biotic, or living, community and its abiotic, or nonliving, environment.
Ecosystems vary greatly in size and conditions. The plants and animals of an ecosystem
are determined by the abiotic factors.

Biotic vs. Abiotic Factors

Biotic Factors - Living organisms and factors from formerly living organisms. Include
interactions between members of the same species and different species.

Abiotic Factors - Any nonliving geological, geographical and climatological factors.

Examples: water, air, soil, light, temperature, and natural disasters.
Both abiotic and biotic factors can limit or enhance a population’s success in a particular
environment.

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Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Community - all of the populations that live and interact in the same area. Community
makes up an ecosystem’s living, or biotic, portion. At the community level, interactions
between organisms can be observed-
• Predator/prey
• Consumer/producer
• Competition and cooperation

Population - a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the
same time.
Population can be defined at different levels of size
• A local population could occupy a very small habitat, such as a puddle
• A population could also include every member of a species of monkey that
occupies a large island

Producers
• Producers are organisms that are able to make their own food from inorganic
compounds using photosynthesis
• Examples of producers - plants, protista (algae), and some bacteria
• Producers are at the bottom of all food pyramids, all other organisms depend on
producers for energy

Consumers

Consumers get energy by feeding on producers or other consumers. Classification

depends on location within the food chain:

• Primary - animals that eat producers (herbivores), eg. Deer

• Secondary - animals that eat primary consumers (carnivores) or primary
consumers and producers (omnivores), eg. Wolves
• Tertiary - eat secondary consumers, can still be carnivores or omnivores

Decomposers
• Organisms that consume dead organisms, releasing nutrients back into the soil,
water, and atmosphere
• Crucial to ecosystems, playing important roles in the carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and oxygen cycles; ex. fungi

Food Chains
• Describe the energy flow between species within an ecosystem
• Producers use energy from the sun to make food and therefore start the chain
• The arrows represent the direction of energy flow, pointing from the organism
being consumed to the organism receiving the energy

Food Webs
• Group of interconnected food chains
• Organisms within a food web can belong to more than one trophic level, or
feeding level.

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Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Symbiosis

• An interaction between individuals of different biological species.

• One of the organisms receive a benefit from the interaction, the other can either
receive a benefit, be harmed, or not be affected in any way

Three main kinds of symbiotic relationships:

o Commensalism
o Mutualism
o Parasitism

Allelopathy - This is where one plant produces certain molecules which can either benefit
or harm another plant nearby.

Symbiosis Chart

Symbiosis
• Commensalism: One organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
in a commensalistic relationship.
• Mutualism: Both organisms benefit in a mutualistic relationship. eg. flowers and
pollinators
• Parasitism: One organism benefits and the other is harmed in a parasitic
relationship. eg. mosquitoes

Other Relationships
• Predator/Prey: predator hunts, kills, and eats prey
• Competition: two organisms compete for the same resources, eg. food, water,
shelter, space
• Cooperation: an interaction where organisms work together, eg. wolf packs

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

the impact of The impact of abiotic factors

abiotic factors
Abiotic factors are not always evenly distributed throughout an ecosystem.

For example, water is a very effective filter for sunlight and the deeper the ocean, the
dimmer the sunlight. The top layer of the ocean is referred to as the photic zone. This has
a very significant effect on the types of organisms that inhabit these zones. The main
producers of the ocean are photosynthetic phytoplankton, which provide food for other
organisms. The availability of phytoplankton is therefore affected by the availability of
sunlight.

There is rarely any significant light that reaches beyond 200m depth, which makes
photosynthesis impossible.
There is also a rapid drop in temperature the deeper you go in the ocean as a result of the
filtering of sunlight.
Oxygen decreases to minimum at 1000m, but rapidly increases again the deeper you go.
This is because of the mixing of water with deep, cold and highly oxygenated ocean
currents that have their source in polar regions.

Ocean food chains are divided into two main groups based on the differences in the
abiotic factors in the surface and deep ocean layers:
1. superficial pelagic communities of free swimming and floating organisms
2. benthic communities of organisms that live in the deep ocean.

Each of these communities (groups of different populations in an area or habitat) has its
own unique way of thriving within the limits of the abiotic environment. `

For example, their physical features and behaviours will be ideally suited to deal with
such factors. A saltwater fish has the behavioural and physiological adaptations that
enable it to deal with the high salt load in its environment.

Comparing abiotic characteristics at different depths of an aquatic marine environment

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

● Every living thing exists within a framework of biotic and abiotic factors called an
ecosystem.
● An ecosystem consists of the interaction of living things with each other and with their
nonliving environment.
● Abiotic factors are unevenly distributed throughout an ecosystem and include
temperature,
pressure, light availability, water availability, wind and soil nutrient levels.
● Biotic factors are the living things that an organism shares the ecosystem with,
including
plants, animals, bacteria. Species may be affected directly or indirectly by each other.
● Aquatic ecosystems are mainly affected by salinity, light availability, gas
concentrations and water temperature.

the impact of Living things can affect each other directly by such things as predation and symbiosis, but
biotic factors also can have an equally profound effect on each other indirectly by competing for
resources.

These resources may include other living things as food sources and mates, as well as
non-living factors such as light, nutrients and water.

When different species interact with one another, the interactions may be positive,
negative or neutral for each species. The simplest community interactions include:
◗ predation ◗ competition ◗ symbiosis – mutualism, commensalism and parasitism.

predicting Predator-prey relationships

consequences
for At its simplest, a predator is an organism which kills and eats another organism for
populations in sustenance. The prey is of course the organism which is eaten.
ecosystems
due to This relationship is often more complex than a single direct chain and is best represented
predation as a food web.

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

● Biotic factors relate to living features such as organism abundance, distribution and
interactions.
● Competition can be between (interspecies) or within species (intraspecies).
● Interactions may be positive, negative or neutral.
● The simplest interactions include competition, predation and symbiosis.
● Organisms compete for resources such as nutrients, water, shelter, sunlight and
reproductive partners.

Competition
Organisms may compete with members of their own species or members of another
species.

This results in 2 main sub-categories of competition:

• Intraspecific competition - between members of the same species

• Interspecific competition - between members of a different species
Plants may compete for soil nutrients or access to sunlight. Animals may compete for
food or mates.

Ecological Ecological niches occupied by species

niches
occupied by The part of the ecosystem that the organism occupies is called a niche.
species
A niche refers to all the resources that a species uses, including both biotic and abiotic
factors.

For example, the niche of a koala includes the time of day it is most active or sedentary,
the numbers and types of leaves it eats, the type and sizes of trees it lives in and the other
species it interacts with. No two species can occupy the same niche.

This is known as the competitive exclusion principle.

An organism’s habitat refers to the location the species is found in. If the habitat is the
workplace of a species, the niche is its job.

For example, a noisy miner bird that lives in your suburb hunts for insects among the
plants in your garden. It builds a nest to raise young on acacia tree branches using grass
and small sticks. In the same area a galah eats seeds mostly from the ground. It nests in
the hollow of a eucalypt tree and lines it with leaves.

Both birds occupy the same area but have different food and nesting strategies – they
occupy different niches within the same habitat.

predicting Predicting consequences for populations in ecosystems

consequences
for Scientists use models such as graphs to easily visualise trends and enable them to make
populations in predictions about the future.
ecosystems

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Predicting Consequences of predation

consequences
for Consequences of predation Predators affect the distribution and abundance of their prey.
populations in This is one of nature’s means of population control. However, if the prey species can
ecosystems - reproduce as fast as it is predated, its population will remain stable. In natural
Consequences communities, the abundance of a predator and its prey can fluctuate through time, with
of predation the predator numbers copying those of the prey. When there are large numbers of prey
available, the predator population increases in size. As prey are consumed, their numbers
decline, leading to a shortage of food for the predators, whose numbers consequently also
decline.

This pattern is clearly illustrated in Figure below:

Several different factors may affect the numbers of predator and prey populations:

◗ number of predators competing for the same prey

◗ availability of the prey’s food
◗ reproduction rate, depending on:
– the age of reproductive maturity
– number of reproductive episodes per lifetime
◗ death rate (increased by exposure to disease, reduced availability of resources)
◗ ratio of males to females
◗ size of the ecosystem for supporting the predator and prey numbers
◗ movement between ecosystems
◗ number of shelter sites available.

Predicting Consequences of competition

consequences
for Competition between species for resources affects reproduction and survival rates.
populations in Population
ecosystems - fluctuations can be directly linked to the competing species and their resource. If the
Consequences resource is a common food source, for example, as food sources become more readily

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

of available the abundance of both species increases. As food sources decrease, so may the
competition abundance of both competing species

Predicting Consequences of symbiosis

consequences
for The process of symbiosis has profound consequences for all life on Earth.
populations in Scientists recognise the potential of symbiosis to contribute to:
ecosystems - ◗ increased evolutionary diversification – biodiversity
Consequences ◗ the development of new species from the integration of their genetic material with each
of symbiosis other (symbiogenesis)
◗ sources of new capabilities for organisms, which enhance evolutionary ‘fitness’.

Symbiosis allows an increase in biodiversity and therefore more resilient ecosystems.

For example, coral reefs are only possible because the coral (an animal) has a symbiotic
relationship with photosynthetic algae. The coral reefs provide a unique environment for
fish and marine invertebrates. This is an example of ecosystem biodiversity.

Symbiogenesis

When eukaryotic organisms first evolved on early Earth, they lacked the capacity for
aerobic respiration. It is thought that this was acquired by eukaryotic cells through the
symbiosis of primitive mitochondria-like organisms around 1–2 billion years ago. This is
an example of symbiogenesis – the formation of a new species by the genetic
incorporation of two separate species.

Aerobic respiration is an important metabolic process for all eukaryotes because it allows
the efficient breakdown of glucose all the way to carbon dioxide with the production of
large amounts of chemical energy in the form of ATP molecules.

Legume plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Many legume plants (such as clover) have an association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria
(rhizobia). The bacteria live in the root nodules of plants. The plant supplies the bacteria
with their nutritional requirements (sugar derived from photosynthesis), and in turn the
bacteria supply the plant with a source of nitrogen by capturing atmospheric nitrogen gas
(nitrogen fixation) and converting it into useful ammonia (NH3). Plants use this ammonia
to manufacture their amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids and other nitrogen-containing
compounds.

Scientists are aware of some rhizobia that have developed the ability to ‘cheat’ the plant
by acquiring sugar from it, but not returning the favour in the form of nitrogen fixation. In
this case, the relationship has become parasitic.

Consequences Consequences of disease

of disease
Disease can be defined as any process that adversely affects the normal functioning of
tissues in a living organism. This includes infectious and non-infectious causes.

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

In wild ecosystems, the greatest threats are generally infectious diseases. There is usually
a pool of disease-causing agents or pathogens (such as viruses, fungi and bacteria) already
present in the environment.

For a disease outbreak to occur, the pathogen must be introduced into a new host
population from where the disease spreads through direct or indirect means, or it must be
given a selective advantage by a change in the abiotic or biotic conditions.

Human-induced changes such as climate change, deforestation, water and soil degradation
may contribute to this. This may lead to an increase in the number of breeding sites for
vectors, an invasion of an ecosystem by a new pathogen or vector, changes in resistant
populations of organisms due to the use of antibiotics and pesticides (herbicides,
insecticides, fungicides) by humans, or the lowering of resistance to disease in species due
to changes in their environment.

A simple change in an environmental factor that causes stress on an organism can

compromise its barriers to invasion by a pathogen. Loss of habitat with overcrowding is a
major factor in many disease outbreaks. The effect of an emerging disease on an
ecosystem is to alter the balance of food webs, sometimes dramatically. Affected species
will suffer a decline in numbers, and this has consequences for both their prey as well as
those that predate them.
measuring Sampling techniques
populations
of organisms Being able to measure both the abundance and distribution of species is essential to
using understanding the biodiversity of an ecosystem. It’s important to note that abundance and
sampling distribution do NOT mean the same thing!
techniques
Abundance describes how many members of the species live throughout the ecosystem.
Increases/decreases of the species’ abundance is caused by -
• immigration or emigration of the species, an influx
• deflux of predators or prey
• a change in the structure of the habitat
• the weather and seasonal changes.

Distribution of a species describes the area where it is found, how a species is distributed
gives clues about how it is interacting with the environment. Distribution differs due to
the variance in the environment with the variety of temperature, abiotic and biotic factors
determining who can survive

measuring
populations
of organisms
using
sampling
techniques:
transect

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

measuring
populations Transects
of organisms Equipment and Method Advantages Disadvantages
using
sampling - Used to plan sketches and - Can be used to illustrate a - Not accurate and cannot
techniques: profile sketches particular gradient or linear cover long distances
transect - A form of line or rope which pattern along which species of - The line can be interfered
you walk along plants and animals are living with
- Study is undertaken by - Can be used on any random - Only used on plants and
moving along the line and area animals that do not move
recording which species are - Broad view of community - Cannot be used for a large
located at each point land use abundance of plants
- Causes minimal disturbance
to the environment

measuring
populations
Quadrat Sampling
of organisms
using Equipment and Method Advantages Disadvantages
sampling
techniques: - Used to plan sketches and - A “quadrat” is a simple - Not accurate - depends a lot
Quadrat profile sketches wire/wooden/plastic frame on chance
- A form of line or rope which which is dropped onto the - Only used on plants and
sampling
you walk along ground at random throughout animals that are slow moving
- Study is undertaken by the study area. Number of
moving along the line and species in the quadrat is
recording which species are recorded
located at each point

measuring
populations Capture-recapture
of organisms Equipment and Method Advantages Disadvantages
using
sampling - Tags to mark the animals - Good for determining - Is inconsistent → the most
techniques: - Calculated by the number of population of animals inaccurate between the three
Capture- animals in the first capture x - Easy to do methods
recapture number of animals in the - Simple method - Requires a large sample
second/number of recaptured - Only works for fast moving
animals
Contrast - Cannot calculate the diversity
sampling of the environment
techniques. - Disturbance to the
environment and time
consuming

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

explain a A recent extinction event: the Australian megafauna

recent
extinction Scientists are able to apply their knowledge of population dynamics to past and
event sometimes unexplained extinctions.

The species that live on this planet now have not always been here. Species that have
lived in the past may no longer be represented in the species living today. The type and
number of species are constantly changing.

Extinction is the death of all the members of one species. Sometimes there are major
extinction events, where a number of different species have become extinct at around the
same time. This is what happened to the Australian megafauna.

During the Pleistocene epoch (1.6 million – 10000 years ago), Australia was home to a
group of giant animals known collectively as the Australian megafauna. Examples
included Diprotodon (like a large wombat), Megalania (like a large goanna) and
Procoptodon (like a giant, flat-faced kangaroo).

Megafauna existed in Europe and North America (woolly mammoths ), sabre-toothed

cats) as well as Africa (giraffes, hippopotamus, elephants). In fact, Africa is the only
continent to retain most of its megafauna.

There have been many ‘ice ages’ throughout the 4.5 billion year history of Earth. The last
ice age is the only one in which humans were present. The continents were in their current
positions, and the climate was very cold and dry. Humans and many other mammals
survived this epoch, but many species went extinct. The epoch we are in now is referred
to as the Holocene epoch, which started 10000 years ago. It is a period of warming called
an interglacial period.

explain a Theory 1: Changes in climate

recent
extinction • The continent dried out due to the ice age.
event. • Rainforests were contracting due to a drying climate. Because rainforests had stored
moisture and returned an enormous amount to the atmosphere through transpiration,
Theory 1: monsoon rains once penetrated south and kept the rivers and lakes in Australia full. As
Changes in the rainforests diminished they were eventually replaced by eucalypt forests, but these
climate were less efficient at retaining water. As a result, less water was returned to the
atmosphere.
• As the climate became hotter and drier, fires broke out, initially due to lightning
strikes, and the drier vegetation caught fire easily. Those plants and animals that could
survive drought and fire reproduced and flourished, bringing about a change to the
flora and fauna.

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Arguments supporting Theory 1 - climate change hypothesis

• Large animals such as megafauna, which were dependent on an ample supply of

water, would have died out when water became scarce.
• They may also have died out because they could not manage the sudden change in
temperature, their breeding seasons may have been affected and possibly the plants
that they ate became less freely available and/or less palatable.

Arguments against Theory 1 - climate change hypothesis

• The last ice age was probably like previous ice ages. If so, why would the last one
have had such an immense effect, when there is no evidence that the previous ice
ages had a similar result?
• The earlier extinctions seem to have occurred before the peak of the last ice age.
• Climate change today does not seem to select against large, slow-moving species.

explain a Theory 2: The arrival of humans

recent
extinction Aboriginal people arrived in Australia about 65000 years ago. They probably ‘island-
event. hopped’ from the north. They were extremely successful predators. They used fire to burn
back the bush – their ‘fire-stick’ farming techniques involved burning the vegetation to
Theory 2: The regenerate grasses for the animals and for themselves. Increasing population numbers of
arrival of animals meant that there would be more available for hunting.
humans
Evidence from the Madjedbebe site (300km east of Darwin) suggests that humans hunted
the megafauna and, because the larger animals were slower, they were the ones that were
killed. The smaller, faster animals that escaped survived to pass their genes on and so
these populations evolved to become smaller. It appears that the original Indigenous
people hunted Australian terrestrial animals that were larger than they were.

The introduction of the dingo from Asia about 4000 years ago may have also led to a
decrease in the diversity of carnivore predators. It has been suggested that the dingos
drove the thylacine and Tasmanian devil to extinction on the mainland
Arguments supporting Theory 2 - the human hypothesis

• The main evidence for the theory that humans were involved in the increase in
fires is that the increased carbon deposits in fossils are about the same age (40 000
years) as the oldest archaeological sites beyond northern Australia.
• The smaller species of megafauna that became extinct had short limbs, which
would have made them slow; the largest surviving of our present-day species are
also among the fastest (for example, red and grey kangaroos).

Arguments against Theory 2 - the human hypothesis

• There is no fossil evidence of kill sites and very little evidence of humans and
megafauna coexisting.
• If you consider the size of the animals, there is an overlap in the size of the
smallest extinct species and that of the largest present-day species

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

explain a Theory 3: Level of nutrients

recent
extinction A third theory accounting for the survival of smaller animals is that there were such low
event. levels of nutrients in the soils in Australia that this may have caused a nutrient depletion
throughout the food web, resulting in smaller animals. The smaller size of mammals in
Theory 3: Australia compared with their counterparts on other continents today could provide
Level of evidence.
nutrients

Evidence of humans and megafauna coexisting

When two species are found at a fossil site near each other, it can be inferred that they
coexisted and possibly interacted with each other.

Cuddie Springs is a fossil site in central New South Wales where the bones of megafauna
and stone tools made by humans have been found in close proximity. There are in fact
several different layers in the Cuddie Springs deposit, each with its own unique insights
into different times. Some of the specific finds include:

• a kangaroo leg bone with signs of butchering by tools (30000 years old)
• stone tools (around 18000 years old)
• mixtures of megafauna bones
• charcoal from camp fires (around 28000 years old)
• a sandstone grinding stone (around 30000 years old).

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

4.2 Past Ecosystems

Questions Inquiry question 2: How do selection pressures within an ecosystem influence
evolutionary change?
• analyse palaeontological and geological evidence that can be used to provide
evidence for past changes in ecosystems, including but not limited to:
o Aboriginal rock paintings
o rock structure and formation
o ice core drilling

analyse Aboriginal rock paintings

palaeontologi
cal and Palaeontologists can use Aboriginal rock paintings as recordings of the species present in
geological different regions tens of thousands of years ago.
evidence that
can be used to The discovery of two emu-like paintings in Arnhem Land provided evidence that humans
provide co-existed with the megafauna bird Genyornis which became extinct over 40,000 years
evidence for ago.
past changes
in
ecosystems,
including but
not limited to:
Aboriginal
rock paintings

analyse Geological evidence

palaeontologi
cal and Banded iron formation
geological
evidence that Scientist believe that the Earth’s atmosphere has undergone many changes, with the
can be used to change from anerobic (oxygen0poor) to aerobic (oxygen-containing) around 1.8-2.5
provide billions years ago being one of the most notable.
evidence for
past changes Banded iron formations are geological formations consisting of alternating bands of iron
in rick and iron poor sediments. But how did they form?
ecosystems,
including but The current explanation is that when the oceans first formed, they contained vast amounts
not limited to: of soluble iron. The appearance of photosynthetic prokaryotes (such as Cyanobacteria) in
rock structure the oceans led to an increase in oxygen concentration in the oceans, leading to the
and formation precipitation of insoluble iron oxide. This accumulates at the bottom of the sea forming an
iron rich layer of sediment.

The build-up of oxygen in the oceans lead to a large scale death of cyanobacteria and the
subsequent deposit of iron poor layer of sediment until the population of cyanobacteria
built up again.

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Periodic deposits of iron rich and iron poor sediment built up and turned to stone (lithified). Uplift
and erosion exposed these sedimentary formations.

These geological formations are another window into the environment of the past The great
oxygenation event took almost 2 billion years and during this time the Earth’s atmosphere was
transformed.

analyse Ice core drilling

palaeontologi
cal and Ice core drilling is similar to the formation of sedimentary rocks, antarctic snow and ice
geological form as layers.
evidence that
can be used to The deepest layers are the oldest, representing ancient deposition events.
provide
evidence for As snow falls, particles of gas are trapped in the layers of snow. Where it is sufficiently
past changes cold, the snow will form ice and trap dust particles, ash or pollen which can serve as
in proxy data to understand Earth’s past climate.
ecosystems,
including but
not limited to:
Ice core
drilling

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

• investigate and analyse past and present technologies that have been used to
determine evidence for past changes, for example:
– radiometric dating
– gas analysis

past and Methods of dating:

present
technologies Radiometric dating:
that have
been used to Radioactive dating is a method of dating rocks and minerals using radioactive isotopes.
determine This method is useful for igneous and metamorphic rocks, which cannot be dated by the
evidence for stratigraphic correlation method used for sedimentary rocks.
past changes
–radiometric Gas analysis:
dating
– gas analysis Measurement of the proportion of gases and the ratio of certain isotopes in certain gases
can allow us to infer past global temperatures or atmospheric gas compositions
• analyse evidence that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the
past by examining and interpreting a range of secondary sources to evaluate
processes, claims and conclusions relating to the evolution of organisms in
Australia, for example:
– small mammals
– sclerophyll plants
evolution of Evolution of organisms in Australia Biota
organisms in
Australia – Evidence suggest that present day organisms have evolved from organisms from the past.
the evidence/
data

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

• investigate the reasons for changes in past ecosystems, by:

– interpreting a range of secondary sources to develop an understanding of the

changes in biotic and abiotic factors over short and long periods of time,
evaluating hypotheses that account for identified trends
changes in If the climate in a habitat changes, the distribution and abundance of living things within
biotic and that habitat also tends to change due to selective pressures.
abiotic factors
over short and The three main origins of plants in Australia are:
long periods
of time • those already on the continent when it split from Gondwana
• those that dispersed from South-East Asia to Australia
• introduced species

The origins of animals that led to present-day fauna are:

• ‘original residents’– those that were on the continent when it split from Gondwana (for
example, frogs, reptiles, monotremes, marsupials, emus and lyrebirds)
• Asian ‘immigrants’ that arrived when sea levels were low – 15 mya and again 40 000–
30 000 years ago (poisonous snakes, back-fanged snakes, rats, mice and bats)
• those introduced by immigrant traders or late arrival Aboriginals – 4000 years ago (for
example, dingos)
• those introduced by European immigrants – 120 years ago.

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4.3 Future Ecosystems

Questions Inquiry question 3: How can human activity impact on an ecosystem?

• investigate changes in past ecosystems that may inform our approach to the
management of future ecosystems, including:
– the role of human-induced selection pressures on the extinction of species
– models that humans can use to predict future impacts on biodiversity
– the role of changing climate on ecosystems

human How can human activity impact on an ecosystem?

activity
impact on an Main impact:
ecosystem • Increasing population
• Agriculture
• Introduced species
• Land clearing

Increasing population
• The trend in world population growth is exponential growth.
• It is important to have data on human population growth to understand the demand
on the environment for space, food, materials for infrastructure, freshwater and
waste disposal.
• Antibiotics and increased hygiene practices, genetically modified crops, increased
food production through herbicides and pesticides all result in longer lifespans.
• The major factors leading to Australia’s increased population are migration and
increased lifespans.

investigate Agriculture
the reasons
for changes in 10,000 years ago, human transitioned from hunter-gather lifestyle and started to cultivate
past crops and domestic animals. This is often called the Neolithic revolution. The immediate
ecosystems: effect was an increase in human population. Villages and towns emerged. During this
agriculture time, the landscape was being transformed to produce food and other goods. Irrigation
was developed along side the domestication of plants as a means of producing surplus, so
water was diverted from its natural courses. Selective breeding of crops and livestock
radically altered their features to favour large yields.

One of the immediate effects of agriculture on ecosystems was soil erosion. The main
causes –
• Removal of vegetation/leaving land fallow
• Removal of deep-rooted trees
• Soil cultivation practices that break up the soil structure
• Increased livestock (hard hooved animal – horses, cows, sheep) leading to breakup
of soil.
• Disturbance of soil salt balance - salinity

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Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Another effect of both agriculture and urbanisation is the introduction of unwanted

substances that causes harm. Pollution in the form of:
• Fertilisers
• Pesticides

Introduced species

The introduction of new species into an ecosystem causes changes in relationships due to
competition, predation and disease. An example is the devastating effects of the cane toad
on populations of small mammals and native toads and frogs
The red-bellied black snake provides an example of how the cane toad affects a native
species.

In cane toad areas, the head size of red-bellied black snakes is getting smaller. Research
on museum specimens of snakes caught before and after cane toads were introduced
showed that the poison-sensitive snakes became longer by about 3–5 per cent, but that
other snake species in the museum collection that were not affected by the poison did not
change in length.

Bigger snakes have a smaller head in comparison to their body length. Because larger
cane toads produce more poison, those snakes with larger heads ate larger toads and
received a greater dose of toxin, and died.

Smaller headed snakes were unable to open their jaws wide enough to eat the larger toads.
The cane toad is a selective pressure acting on snake head size.

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Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

Land clearing

Land clearing is having the following effects on Australian ecosystems: increased soil
salinisation, removing nesting sites and habitats for native animals, altered waterways,
and loss of wetlands.

Mining

Mining is having the following effects on Australian ecosystems:

• Extraction and refining of ores leave behind chemical pollutants, which accumulate in
soil and local waterways.
• Acid wastes, which change the acidity of waterways, are produced.
• The topography of the land is altered by the removal of topsoil and vegetation, leading
to soil erosion and siltation of local waterways.
• Old buildings and machinery are often left behind once mining operations cease.
• Air pollution with oxides of sulphur and nitrogen may lead to the production of acid rain
that destroys vegetation and soil invertebrates

Extinction

Extinction is the death of all individuals of a species.

The major factors that lead to extinction are the over-exploitation of resources, introduced
species and disruption of ecological relationships.
Increased biodiversity means that there is increased variation in an ecosystem. This
increased variation leads to a more resilient ecosystem since it is more likely to be able to
adapt to selective pressures placed upon it.

Monitoring:

Monitoring is essential to conserving biodiversity since it provides information on how

the management plan for conserving biodiversity is performing. If species continue to
decline in population numbers, then it shows that the current management plan is not
effective and requires change. Changing management involves assessing human-related
activities such as mining, forestry and recreation, as well as conservation-related activities
such as those existing in reserves and national parks. Ideally, all species in existence
would benefit from having their populations monitored; however, this would be a very
time-consuming and costly process, and funding is limited.

At present, monitoring programs tend to focus on threatened species or ecosystems, or

ecosystems that provide economic value through industry (for example, mining, logging
and tourism). Amphibians have been identified as good indicators of environmental health
because they are very sensitive to changes in their environment (their skin is permeable to
both liquids and gases). Because of this sensitivity, their decline within an ecosystem may
indicate that other components of the ecosystem are also in a state of decline or bad
health.

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 Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

the role of The role of changing climate on ecosystems

changing
climate on The predicted effects of climate change are rising sea levels, more frequent and severe
ecosystems droughts, more frequent and severe fires, changes in rainfall, species extinction, more
frequent and severe heatwaves.

Scientists are concerned about changing global temperatures since they are showing a
steady increase in the past century. This will lead to the consequences of climate change,
such as rising sea levels, more frequent and severe droughts, more frequent and severe
fires, changes in rainfall, species extinction, more frequent and severe heatwaves. Since
many of these consequences have already started to be displayed around, the world
scientist concerns are warranted.

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in great quantities. Since
carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas this causes an enhanced greenhouse effect, which
leads to climate change through an increase in temperature
• investigate practices used to restore damaged ecosystems, Country or Place, for
example:
– mining sites
– land degradation from agricultural practices
restoring Mining
damaged
ecosystems Previously, many mining sites, after use, were just not good for anything. Various
chemicals are used during the mining process and the mines are typically not dug in well-
thought-out structures which makes it unsuitable for farming. Of course, this also means
that many animals cannot be rehabilitated to reside on or near the mines either. Although,
there are rehabilitation programs now that are seeing some success.

Rehabilitation of disturbed sites is the process of returning the land to an acceptable state
depending on the agreed values and end land use.

The mine owner has a responsibility by law to ensure they cause minimal harm to the
environment. This is done through extensive planning and subsequent management of
mine sites. The effects of a mine are not limited to the physical disruption of the earth, but
also the potential harm from the processing of the ores. After mining operations have
ceased it is the responsibility of the mine owner to action rehabilitation of the mine site.

• models that humans can use to predict future impacts on biodiversity

Models to The use of modelling to predict changes in populations of organisms.
predict
human impact Scientists can use models of biological communities to predict the effects of human
on impacts on their populations.
biodiversity
Models are simply a representation of a concept that is too complicated to study in situ.
Often modelling is in the form of mathematical calculations, which include the input and
output variables for the community in numerical form.

For example, numerical values for species numbers from sampling as well as values for
the different abiotic features in an environment can be entered into the equation. Trends in

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Year 11 Biology Syllabus and Notes

populations mapped along with trends in abiotic factors can help scientists make
mathematical links between a steady rise in atmospheric temperature and the features of a
species. Even though models can be complex and take into account many variables, they
are still not 100 per cent accurate at predicting changes in organisms since ecosystems are
complex.

Why scientist use different models of growth for different populations

Scientists use different models of growth for different populations since each population
is individual. Each population would have unique traits, adaptations and selective
pressures that affect its potential growth rate. If scientists used a model for population
growth of an aquatic species on a terrestrial species, they would not gain valid or accurate
results.

Use of land management strategy to restore damaged agricultural land.

For many farmers facing the threat of land salinity, the use of a land management strategy
would be highly beneficial.
Strategies for reducing salinisation of farmland include planting deep-rooted, saline-
resistant perennial plants to help to lower the groundwater level, use drip irrigation
instead of flood irrigation to prevent excess water entering the groundwater, mulch garden
beds to promote moisture retention on the surface and to use timed sprinklers to reduce
excess water use.

Through the implementation of these strategies, a farmer may be able to regain the use of
land that is currently non-arable and so increase their amounts of produce.

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