VCE Environmental Science

Photo Source

We have discussed the three levels of biodiversity (genetic, species and ecosystem) and reasons for protecting biodiversity and some of the threats. Next we will discuss how populations are measured, the categories of conservation and strategies we use to reduce the threats to biodiversity. The IUCN redlist (International Union for Conservation of Nature list of all known species and their conservation categories) defines critically endangered, endangered and threatened species according to their population size, distribution and likelihood of extinction.

This worksheet (conservation-case-studies) asks you to classify eight different species according to known data. Try to classify the local threatened species listed in the post below using the IUCN criteria. One of the commonly used methods for measuring the number of individuals in a population is “mark and recapture” or “tag and release”. We will do an experiment to simulate this process here (mark-and-recapture-expt).

These beautiful images have been put together by Renata, from the “Back to Nature” group on Slideshare. Many of these species are endangered and all are threatened by climate change. Do you remember the acronym for threatening processes? CHIPPO -

• Climate Change
• Habitat destruction
• Introduced species
• Pest plants
• Pollution
• Overharvesting (fishing, hunting, trapping, shooting, poaching etc)

Photo Source

After the worst floods in decades and the serious threat of a major cyclone, Queensland has been struck with an unprecedented environmental disaster. A cargo ship, which lost containers during the cyclone, had it’s hull damaged by the containers and a significant quantity of diesel fuel (about 1,000 tonnes of oil) leaked from the ship. Moreton Island has been most severely affected, with oil washing ashore over 50 km of beach.

Martin Taylor from WWF said everything from fish and crabs to waterbirds, dugongs and dolphins, would feel the effects – in fact, every level of the food chain.

Nine MSN report here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/770634/oil-spill-clean-up-begins-in-qld

The Age Video here: http://media.theage.com.au/national/national-news/queenslands-oil-spill-clean-up-416195.html

Cosmos magazine article here: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2619/birds-and-turtles-risk-queensland-oil-spill

On Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th September, Xavier and his meangerie of native Australian animals came to visit. “Wild Action” is the zoo that comes to you – students had the opportunity to see and touch native lizards, snakes and other vertebrates.