Werribee Open Range Zoo
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This Thursday we will be visiting Werribee
Open range Zoo to:
1. Investigating Ecosystems
1.
2.
2.
Investigate the ecosystem at the Zoo (Unit 2,
AOS 2, Outcome 2)
Learn how to sample from an ecosystem
Reproduction
1.
Learn about the behavioural and structural
adaptations of various animals that lead to
reproduction (Unit 2, AOS 1, Outcome 1)
About Werribee Open Range Zoo..
 Werribee Open Range Zoo represents an
Savanna neither typically Australian or
African in;
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Temperature
Vegetation
Wildlife – native and introduced
 They are also running some conservation
initiatives e.g. Eastern Barred Bandicoot,
Golden Sun Moth
What we will need to know before we
go for Investigating Ecosystems?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What are abiotic and biotic factors?
What are producers?
What are primary, secondary and tertiary
consumers?
What is succession?
What do the terms indigenous, native and
introduced mean?
What is an adaptation?
How are ecosystems sampled?
1. Abiotic & Biotic Factors
 Abiotic Factors – non living
 Biotic Factors - Living
Living or Biotic
 Animals
 Plants
 Insects
 Birds
 Fungi
 Bacteria
Non living or Abiotic
 Temperature
 Water
 Sunlight
 Topography
 Soil
 Clouds
 pH
 Altitude
 Wind
 Ice
 Rock
 etc
 Chemicals
2. What are producers?
3. What are Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary Consumers?
4. What is succession?
Succession
 Succession is the change in an ecosystem
over time
 There are two types of succession:

Primary

Secondary
Primary Succession
 Primary succession is when an area is
colonized that was bare or devoid of life e.g.
newly created land from volcanic eruption
Secondary Succession
 Secondary succession is when an area is
recolonised or changes after an event.
 This may happen after fire or cultivation of an
area.
Climax Community
 A climax community is when an ecosystem is
stable in composition and species
abundance.
 This means a stable ecosystem exists and
there is little change, this rarely occurs.
5. What do the terms indigenous,
native and introduced mean?
6. Adaptations

An adaptation is a change, a structure,
behaviour or a function that allows an
organisms to survive.
 There are 3 types
1. Physiological
2. Behavioural
3. Structural
6. Adaptations
1.
Physiological – the function allows for a
greater chance of survival
2.
Behavioural – a behaviour that increases
the chance of survival
3.
Structural – a structure on the organism that
increases the chance of survival.
7. Sampling of Ecosystems

Ecosystems can be sampled through
1. Quadrats
2. Transects
3. Mark & recapture
3. Sampling of Ecosystems
 Quadrats – measure organisms w/in a square plot
 Then calculated the population based on the
sampling
 Must decide:
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Size of quadrat
Number of quadrats
Placement of quadrats
Will not work for highly mobile organisms
3. Sampling of Ecosystems
 Useful for surveying changing ecosystems or
changes between ecosystems
 Mark a line, identify and count the organisms
present
3. Sampling of Ecosystems
 Capture, mark, later recapture and use the
marked individuals to help estimate
population
African Savanna
Savanna Characteristics
 Also known as tropical grasslands
 Grassland with scattered trees and shrubs
 Canopy is not closed
 Consist of mainly C4 grasses (Adaptation)
 Seasonal water availability
 Often seen as a transitional zone
 Occur between tropical rainforest and desert
biomes
Found
 Wide band on either
side of the equator near
tropical rainforests
Temperature
 Warm climate
 Dry winter
 Wet summer – monsoon
African Savanna Animals
 Herds of grazing and browsing hoofed animals
and carnivores
 Each has a specialised eating habit (Adaptation)
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different food type or height
reduced competition
African Savanna Animals
 African savannas have the greatest diversity of
fauna that only reside in a savanna
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over 40 species hoofed animals
 Up to 16 species of browsers and grazers can
coexist in one area
Plants
 Specialised to cope with their conditions
 Adaptations
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Long tap root – drought resistant
Thick bark – fire resistant
Trunk water storage – drought resistant
Deciduous trees – drought resistant
Defence compounds – herbivory resistant
Storage organs e.g. corms and bulbs –
drought resistant
Problems
 Good grazing land for cattle
 Native species lose land to farmers
 Over grazing by cattle leads to desert
formation