Nature and Complexity
What key term is this?
This term refers to the movement of energy through an ecosystem, primarily through the consumption of organisms. This flow starts from the sun and passing from producers to various levels of consumers.
Energy flow
What key term is this?
A way of valuing ecosystems which recognises that ecosystems have a right to exist irrespective of their utility value. Central to this concept is a recognition that the biophysical environment provides for many of the inspirational, aesthetic and spiritual needs of people, such as the importance of Uluru.
Intrinsic value
What is this term?
The ability of nature/ecosystems to produce and renew the resources that people use and to absorb and filter the waste generated by human activities, within a limited period of time.
Biocapacity
What key term is this?
This key term is a theory that describes the way changes to an ecosystem are measured against previous reference points, which themselves may represent changes from an even earlier state of the ecosystem.
It reflects the perception of each new generation that current conditions are the same as past conditions. An ecosystem may therefore be degraded successively over time, so that the extent of change from its original state is greater than perceived. It describes the situation where knowledge is lost about the original state of the natural world.
Shifting Baselines
What is this key term?
An approach to nature restoration and conservation that aims to reinstate natural processes and sometimes ‘missing’ species into landscapes that have been managed and/or degraded by humans, and in so doing, ensuring the richness of ecosystems is restored alongside resilience to drought, flooding and other severe weather events. It is increasingly being advocated to address both biodiversity loss and climate change, while also aiming to achieve a range of wider environmental and societal benefits.
Rewilding
Which Aboriginal nation is being referred to below?
The Traditional Owners of the Capricorn Coast and Keppel Bay region, including areas near the southern Great Barrier Reef. They have cultural and custodial responsibilities for reef ecosystems. Starts with the letter D.
Darumbal people.
Define the term 'feedback loops'.
Feedback Loops: Reactions in response to environmental change. Positive feedback loops cause one or more components to increase overall, creating a negative impact on the ecosystem. A negative feedback loop has a positive impact on the ecosystem because it decreases the impact of change, bringing it closer to dynamic equilibrium.
Define any ONE of the following terms:
Existence value, option value, or opportunity cost
Existence Value: the value a community is prepared to place on the ecosystem in its natural state. Many national parks occupy areas that could otherwise be used for farming or urban development. They also contain resources, such as timber and minerals, that could be exploited. The amount that people would be willing to pay for the land plus the cost of maintaining the parks is known as its existence value.
Opportunity Cost: An economic term meaning that to do one thing, something else must be given up; that which is given up.
Option Value: the cost of keeping the ecosystem or species in its natural state, as opposed to exploiting its resources.
Define the term 'Ecological Integrity'.
Ecological Integrity: The ability of an ecosystem to support and naturally maintain ecological processes, species, a diverse community of organisms, and other important characteristics, with minimal or no intervention through human management.
Define the term 'Tipping Point'.
Tipping Point: A critical point (often called a threshold) where a series of smaller changes become significant enough, collectively, to trigger a larger-scale change. The change is often abrupt and irreversible, permanently altering the state of the original system, leading to flow-on effects that have more widespread consequences for other natural systems, and for people.
Platypus
Define the term 'benefit-sharing'.
Benefit-Sharing - Formal and mutually agreed terms for the ongoing, equitable distribution of benefits, arising from the application or commercial utilisation of knowledge, practices and/or resources. Benefit sharing agreements with Indigenous Peoples may relate to Indigenous cultural and intellectual property (ICIP), such as knowledges and practices associated with sustainable management of land and resources.
Provide three key features of grey wolf scientist Kira Cassidy's job, as we learned in class earlier in this topic.
Kira tracks the wolves. That way they can see where the wolves are going, and what they are eating.
Kira uses a range of geographical tools including binoculars, GPS tracking, camera,
Every time she steps into the national park, she is reminded that the biodiversity loss we see across the whole planet can be changed.
Research and Monitoring: Kira studies grey wolves’ behaviour, population dynamics, and their ecological impact within Yellowstone National Park to understand how they influence ecosystem balance.
Ecosystem Impact Analysis: She investigates how wolves help restore dynamic equilibrium by controlling prey populations (like elk), which benefits vegetation and other wildlife through trophic cascades.
Public Education and Advocacy: Kira shares findings through videos and talks (e.g., with David Attenborough) to raise awareness about the importance of predators in ecosystem health and the success of reintroduction programs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFHmtVNu97E
With reference to an example, explain why ecosystems have economic value.
Ecosystems have significant economic value because they provide goods, services, and opportunities that support human livelihoods and national economies. For example, the Great Barrier Reef contributes an estimated $6.4 billion annually to the Australian economy through tourism, fishing, and research industries. It also supports around 64,000 jobs. Beyond direct income, the reef delivers indirect economic benefits like coastal protection, which reduces damage from storms and erosion. Managing and protecting ecosystems ensures these economic benefits are sustained for future generations, while avoiding costly environmental degradation and loss of natural resources essential for economic development.
List at 3 sources of ecological stress and 3 sources of human stress.
50 points for each.
Ecological Stress: Drought, Flood, Fire, Volcanic eruption, Earthquake, Landslide, Change in stream course, Disease, Tsunami, Natural climatic changes, Immigration of new species, Adaptation/evolution, Ecological succession.
Human Stress: Deforestation, Overgrazing, Ploughing, Erosion, Pesticide application, Fire, Mining, Toxic contamination, Urbanisation, Water and air pollution, Loss and degradation of wildlife activity, Anthropogenic climate change, Irrigation: salinisation and waterlogging of soils, Soil compaction, Depletion of groundwater, Water and air pollution, Loss and degradation of wildlife habitat, Elimination of insects and predators, Introduction of exotic species, Overhunting/overfishing, Toxic contamination, Urbanisation, Excessive tourism
How does a ‘shifting baseline’ represent generational change? Refer to an example in your response.
A shifting baseline occurs when each generation perceives environmental conditions they grow up with as ‘normal’, unaware of past, healthier ecosystems. Over time, gradual environmental decline is accepted as the new standard. For example, many young people today view reduced fish stocks and bleached coral in the Great Barrier Reef as typical, without realising how abundant and vibrant the reef was decades ago. This generational shift in perception can reduce urgency for conservation and lower expectations for ecosystem health.
Outline the 30 x 30 Conservation Plan.
An international environmental target aiming to protect 30% of the Earth’s land and 30% of its oceans by 2030. The goal is to conserve biodiversity, safeguard ecosystems, and address climate change.
Extra Points: It was formally adopted under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the COP15 Biodiversity Conference in 2022.
Example:
Australia is a signatory to the 30x30 target and has committed to expanding its protected areas to help achieve this goal.
List 6 ancient land or sea management practices in Australia.
50 points for each one
■ restrictions on species caught
■ closed seasons
■ taboos against eating certain animals
■ designated areas for individuals and groups
■ leadership according to age, enabling ecologically sound practices to be handed down from one generation to the next
■ limits to population growth
■ sustainable methods of hunting.
- Aboriginal groups in drier environments tended to be more nomadic, moving across their lands to ensure that resources were not depleted.
- One cultural rule held by Aboriginal people was that it was taboo for anyone to kill or eat their own totem.
- Planting parts of yams back into the holes from which they were dug so the plants would regenerate.
- Seeding river flats to re-establish plant populations
- settling native bees into tree hollows to start new hives
- digging pits that filled with water and provided breeding places for frogs.
See textbook pages 364-365
Explain how different ocean currents have influenced vegetation on vegetation along Greenland's west coast, compared to Norways west coast.
The vegetation along Greenland’s west coast is sparse and tundra-like due to the cold East Greenland Current bringing icy Arctic waters southward, limiting plant growth. In contrast, Norway’s west coast benefits from the warm North Atlantic Drift (an extension of the Gulf Stream), which raises temperatures and creates a milder climate. This warmer ocean current supports dense forests and a greater variety of vegetation. Thus, ocean currents influence temperature and precipitation patterns, directly affecting the types and density of vegetation found on these two coasts despite their similar latitudes.
With reference to an example, explain why the maintenance of genetic diversity is an important reason for managing and protecting ecosystems.
The maintenance of genetic diversity is vital for ensuring species can adapt to changing environmental conditions, resist diseases, and maintain healthy, resilient ecosystems. For example, within the Great Barrier Reef, different coral species and even individual colonies have varying levels of heat tolerance. Preserving this genetic diversity increases the reef’s chance of surviving rising sea temperatures and coral bleaching events. Without it, species become more vulnerable to extinction, disrupting food webs and ecosystem services. Managing and protecting ecosystems safeguards this genetic variety, ensuring long-term ecological stability, biodiversity conservation, and resources for future generations.
Explain what happened at Mount St. Helens in 1980. How does this link to the need to allow natural change to proceed?
In 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington State, USA, erupted violently after a magnitude 5.1 earthquake triggered a massive landslide and lateral blast. The eruption devastated over 600 km² of forest, altered river systems, and destroyed wildlife habitats. By the end of its cycle of fire and fury, 57 people had died. However, over time, the area became a valuable example of ecological succession. Plants, animals, and ecosystems gradually recovered without human interference, demonstrating nature’s resilience. The event highlights the importance of allowing natural change to proceed in some areas, as it helps maintain dynamic equilibrium, supports biodiversity, and offers valuable opportunities for studying natural ecosystem recovery and long-term environmental processes.
Explain two examples of ecosystems that are currently at risk of reaching a tipping point.
1 point for each example.
1 point for each correct explanation.
The Great Barrier Reef is at risk of a tipping point due to repeated coral bleaching events caused by rising sea temperatures. As bleaching becomes more frequent, the reef’s ability to recover diminishes, risking permanent loss of biodiversity and ecosystem collapse.
Another example is the Amazon Rainforest, threatened by deforestation, fire, and climate change. Scientists warn that if deforestation exceeds 20–25% of its area, the rainforest could shift into a drier savannah-like ecosystem. This would release vast amounts of stored carbon, intensifying global climate change and leading to widespread species loss.
Define each of the following terms relating to approaches to ecosystem management:
Preservation, Conservation, Exploitation, Utilisation
100 points for each correct definition.
Preservation - Refers to the protection of a habitat (or species) in its existing form. It often involves the prevention of all human activities in the protected area.
Conservation - Involves active resource management, and the planned use of natural resources to minimise waste and environmental damage.
Utilisation - Involves the replacement of an ecosystem with a human-madeenvironment that can provide a sustainable yield; for example, sustainably managed commercial agriculture.
Exploitation - Occurs when an ecosystem’s resources are used irrespective of the ecological consequences. Ecosystems are often destroyed, or reduced in extent, because of exploitation.
Explain the traditional practices of the:
- Bajau Laut people
- Lamalera people
Include threats to the sustainability of their way of life.
Bajau Laut People (Sea Nomads)
The Bajau Laut are an Indigenous maritime people traditionally living in stilt houses or boats in the waters of Southeast Asia, particularly around Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They practise subsistence fishing, freediving, and gleaning for shellfish using traditional spears, nets, and handmade goggles. Their knowledge of tides, currents, and reef ecosystems guides sustainable fishing practices.
However, their way of life faces serious threats. Marine resource depletion, driven by commercial overfishing, pollution, and destructive practices like blast fishing, has reduced fish stocks. Additionally, government restrictions on marine territories, forced relocation, and loss of citizenship rights have undermined their traditional lifestyle. Climate change and coral reef degradation further jeopardise their subsistence practices, placing their cultural survival and ecological knowledge at risk.
Lamalera People
The Lamalera people of Lembata Island, Indonesia, are a traditional whaling community known for subsistence hunting of marine megafauna, including whales, dolphins, and rays. Using wooden boats (peledang) and hand-thrown harpoons, they hunt seasonally to supply food and materials for their village. Their practices are guided by customary laws (adat) that regulate who, when, and how hunting occurs to protect resources.
Their way of life is increasingly threatened by modernisation and environmental pressures. Overfishing by commercial fleets, marine pollution, and climate change have reduced available marine species. Additionally, international conservation pressure and restrictions on whaling from global agreements place limitations on their traditional hunting. The shift to motorised boats and mechanised tools risks disrupting the ecological balance and sustainability of traditional practices, threatening both biodiversity and cultural continuity.
Define the term 'dynamic equilibrium'.
Explain how the reintroduction of grey wolves at Yellowstone National Park helped to restore dynamic equilibrium to the ecosystem.
2 points - correct definition
3 points - explanation
Dynamic Equilibrium: When an ecosystem is able to maintain its natural balance and remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes through natural succession. An ecosystem that is in a state of dynamic equilibrium is able to return to its balanced state in response to natural and/or human stresses.
Example:
The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park restored predator-prey relationships. Wolves controlled elk populations, allowing vegetation to recover. This triggered a cascade of ecological effects—improving biodiversity and stabilising the ecosystem. Despite fluctuations, the system maintains a dynamic equilibrium as species populations and environmental conditions adjust but balance persists.
Many of our modern medicines are derived from plants. In our textbook, what discovery was made in relation to the fruit from the blushwood tree?
Provide further details about this.
Earth’s plants, animals and microorganisms constitute a vast store of chemical compounds, some of which have medical applications. Many of our modern medicines are derived from plants. For example, in late 2016 trials began on a new medicine, EBC-46, to treat cancer. The medicine is derived from the berries of the blushwood tree, which grows in the rainforests of Far North Queensland (see Figure 11.2.3). If the trials prove successful, this may replace the current chemotherapy treatments that have lots of negative side effects. In late 2022, researchers at Stanford University in the United States announced that they had developed the technology to synthetically make the EBC-46 compound, which may allow the mass production of a medicine in the future.
What was the Deepwater Horizon incident and what were its impacts in the Gulf of Mexico?
The Deepwater Horizon incident was the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and injured 17. The rig sank two days later, releasing an estimated 134 million gallons of oil over 87 days . The spill contaminated over 1,300 miles of coastline, devastating marine life—including birds, dolphins, and sea turtles—and damaging deep-sea and coastal habitats . It also caused significant economic losses in fisheries and tourism, and long-term health effects were reported among cleanup workers and Gulf Coast residents.
Explain how changes in the Albedo effect could lead to a positive feedback loop and tipping point in the Arctic and Antarctic.
The Albedo effect refers to the ability of surfaces to reflect sunlight. Ice and snow have high Albedo, reflecting most solar radiation. As climate change melts Arctic and Antarctic ice, darker ocean and land surfaces are exposed, absorbing more heat. This accelerates warming, causing further ice melt — a positive feedback loop. If enough ice disappears, it could trigger a tipping point, where rapid, irreversible environmental changes occur, dramatically affecting global temperatures and ecosystems.
5 key features of the 'Rewilding the Platypus' program.
100 points for each key feature
Some features may inculde:
- Program was led by platypus experts from UNSW Sydney, including Dr Gilad Bino and Dr Tahneal Hawke
- Royal National Park's Hacking River
- They selected 10 of the animals from the wild
- Six females and four males – to be the founding members of a new population of platypuses in Royal National Park.
- The platypuses were caught and relocated from the Snowy Mountains region in NSW.
- The platypus has not been seen there for more than half a century, prompting experts to conclude it has been locally extinct for decades.
- For the conservation scientists, the platypus project followed three years of careful planning as part of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney, and has involved partnering with Taronga Conservation Society and WWF-Australia.
- Visitors to the Royal National Park are now regularly reporting platypus sightings.
- As of 6 June 2025, another three platypuses have just been rehomed in the Royal National Park in Sydney, as part of a landmark conservation program.
- Seven more platypuses will be released in the park during next year's breeding season, taking the total number introduced to the area to 20.
- The group of platypuses is also thought to have produced a baby named Gillie.
Why is the promotion, protection and preservation of traditional knowledge fundamental to achieving sustainability at a range of scales?
In your answer, refer to the Darumbal people.
The promotion, protection, and preservation of traditional knowledge is essential for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because it supports culturally inclusive and sustainable ecosystem management. Traditional ecological knowledge provides detailed, place-based understanding of environmental patterns and species behaviours, vital for biodiversity conservation.
In the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem, the Darumbal people are the Traditional Owners of the Capricorn Coast and Keppel Bay region. Their knowledge has guided sustainable marine management for generations. In 2024, the Darumbal TUMRA (Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement) was formally signed with the Australian Government. This agreement formally recognises the Darumbal people’s rights to sustainably use, monitor, and manage marine resources within their Sea Country.
This aligns with both the 30x30 Conservation Plan and SDGs 14 and 15, by integrating Indigenous knowledge into modern conservation efforts, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring long-term resilience and ecosystem health for future generations.