AS91158 - Investigate a pattern in an ecological community, with supervision or

Section 1 - The Intro

Section 3 - Ecosystems overview

1. Watch 3 of the videos below, 

Video 1 - Write 5 kupu/key words that could be used to describe the message of the video 

Video 2 - Write a couple of sentences to summarise the video

Video 3 - Write 3 key questions you have from the video

Exploring the big picture - Looking at the effects of Ecosystem disruption on animal populations and how we can work to reverse this. 

>Read the article below, complete a 3,2,1

 3 - Key ideas, 2 - Key Biology words/kupu with definitions, 1 - Next steps/thoughts/ideas

Biodiversity... What do you know about Aotearoa?

1) Make sure you understand and can define the following terms: endemic, native, and introduced. 

2) Levels of conservation status;

> extinct: when exhaustive surveys have failed to locate an individual in known territories and there is no reasonable doubt that all are dead; 

> extinct in the wild: as above, but living specimens exist in captivity; 

> critically endangered: facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild; 

> endangered: facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild; 

> vulnerable (threatened): facing a high risk of extinction in the wild; near threatened: likely to qualify for one of the above categories in the near future; 

> least concern: widespread and abundant

• Identify one New Zealand bird species for as many of the above conservation status categories as possible. 

• For as many of the categories as possible, identify a New Zealand reptile, mammal, or invertebrate species. 

3) Research the reasons why Māori and later settlers introduced exotic mammals, such as rats, mice, cats, dogs, pigs, goats, rabbits, stoats, ferrets, possums, deer, and hedgehogs. (Find as many examples as you can.) 

4) Describe how these mammals have negatively affected endemic bird populations, classifying the effects in terms of predation, competition, and habitat destruction. 

5) List the introduced species (including various waves of self-introduced humans) 

6) Describe the connection between human settlement, the introduction of exotic species, and the extinction of endemic and native bird species. 

Section 4 - Food chain, Food webs and trophic levels

Section 5 - Relationships

Predator-Prey Relationships 

• Identify the structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations of introduced mammalian carnivores (and omnivores) that make them efficient predators. (Remember that humans can be classified as self-introduced, predatory omnivores.) 

• Identify the structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations of endemic carnivores, such as birds of prey, that make them efficient predators. 

• What are the main similarities and differences between the adaptations of endemic and introduced predators? • Choose an endemic land animal and list its special adaptations. 

• Do any of these adaptations make the animal vulnerable to endemic predators? 

• Do any of these adaptations make it vulnerable to non-endemic or introduced predators?

Section 6 - Niche & Adaptations

An ecological niche describes the functional position and role of an organism within its environment

An ecological niche will be comprised of various components, including:

• The habitat in which the organism lives

• The activity patterns of the organism (e.g. periods of time during which it is active)

• The resources it obtains from the environment (e.g. food source, territorial boundaries, etc.)

• The interactions that occur with other species in the region (e.g. competition / predator-prey relationships)

Check in Questions 

After watching the 2 video's above complete the following questions, recording your answers in your book.

a) What is a niche?

b) What is the difference between a niche and a habitat?

c) Can two organisms occupy the exact same niche? why/why not?

Section 7 - Populations

Section 8 - Measuring & Sampling

Section 9 - Community patterns