BIOLOGY: BIODIVERSITY AND CONNECTEDNESS

ECOLOGY-FIELD BOOKLET
Ecology Field Booklet
Before commencing your field study, it is important to be familiar with the following
ecological terms:
- Abiotic factors
- Biotic factors
- Abundance
- Distribution
- Transect
- Quadrat
- Adaptation
Part A: Qualitative Observations
Select two different locations within your chosen ecosystem and record qualitative
observations.
Ecosystem details – location 1 (Insert date)

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Ecosystem details – location 2 (Insert date)

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Part B: Abiotic Factors

Measure the abiotic factors of the ecosystem. Temperature, humidity, soil pH, lux
or light intensity, and gradient are all compulsory readings that must be recorded.
Your group may choose to collect additional data.
Equipment is available to measure the following abiotic factors: Soil moisture,
oxygen, carbon dioxide, dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, soil texture,
turbidity, soil nitrogen, soil phosphates, conductivity and wind intensity.
Record the readings in the below given table.
Abiotic factor Location 1 (Date) Location 2 (Date)
Temperature

Humidity

Soil pH

Lux (Light Intensity)

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Gradient

Part C: Biotic Factors (Plants)

Identify the main species of plants within your chosen ecosystem, specifically at
each location using the following app: PictureThis or LeafSnap Plant
Identification app (free download on your phone).
Photograph the plant, from a number of different angles, taking note of the leaf
arrangement, leaf shape and presence of a flower etc, to include later in results
section of your report. A botanical field guild is available for use to assist this
process.
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Select two plants to analyse, providing the scientific name, common name, a
detailed description and adaptations that assist the plant to survive in this
ecosystem.
Plant 1:
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Introduced or Native:
Description and Adaptations:
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Plant 2:
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Introduced or Native:
Description and Adaptations:
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Part D: Quadrat
Find the abundance of two plants, preferably representing two different strata in the
forest e.g. tree/shrub, tree/grass, shrub/grass.
Using a 1m2 quadrat, place the quadrat randomly on the ground at two different
locations within the ecosystem and count the number of individuals of both chosen
plant species within. Repeat three times and then calculate an estimate of the
number of individuals per hectare for each plant.
Location 1

Quadrat 1m2
Species 1 2 3 (Total) (x5) (x100)
/20m2 / /ha
100m2

Location 2

Quadrat 1m2
Species 1 2 3 (Total) (x5) (x100)
/20m2 /100m2 /ha

Part E: Transects
Find the distribution for the same two plant species used in Part D: Quadrats
Place a 10m transect through your ecosystem at two different locations (roughly
the same locations where the quadrats were taken) Mark in on the piece of graph
paper where each of the two plants species either over hangs, touches or under hangs the line
from one side only. Indicate their heights on the same graph.

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Describe the distribution of your plant species.
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Part F: Biotic Factors (Animals)

a) Record any bird sightings and if possible, identify their species.

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b) Record any insect sightings and if possible, identify their species.
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c) Access the online database – Atlas of Living Australia to research the type and
number of animal species that have been recorded for your chosen ecosystem.

An outline of the process:

1. Access the Atlas of Living Australia online at https://www.ala.org.au
2. Enter an address for the location of your ecosystem (this may need to
be a close residential address) and select 1km radius.
3. Select ‘animals’. This will identify the animals that have been sighted
and recorded in your selected area.
4. Create a table of the top 20 selected animals, indicating their common
name, scientific name, number of records.

Part G: Biotic Factor (Human Impact)

Observed human impact on the ecosystem.

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Additional pages for notes

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