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Environmental Systems and Perspectives

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Environmental Systems and Perspectives

You are advising a community group about the health of a coastal wetland in northern Australia. Read the field notes and complete each task. Use evidence from the information provided. For extended responses, explain your reasoning.

Field notes: Wattle Creek Wetland

Wattle Creek Wetland lies beside a small farming district. Mangroves and saltmarsh plants grow along the creek. Fish, crabs, insects and waterbirds use the wetland for food and shelter. The creek carries freshwater and sediment after rain, while tides bring salt water into the lower wetland. In recent years, farm fertiliser has washed into the creek after heavy rain. Some sections have also been cleared for access tracks. The community is considering a restoration project. Local Traditional Owners have offered to guide planning, sharing knowledge where appropriate and with their permission. The group wants to protect habitat while keeping the site safe and accessible for visitors.

Read the system

Use the field notes to answer Questions 1–4.

1.Select all the biotic components mentioned in the field notes.

Mangroves
Sediment
Crabs
Tides
Waterbirds

2.Farm fertiliser washing into the creek after rain is best described as which kind of environmental change?

A human-induced pressure carried by a natural process
A biotic component
A natural process with no human influence
A restoration strategy

3.Complete the chain: heavy rain washes excess fertiliser into the creek → ______ → ______. Give one plausible ecological effect in each blank.

4.Explain how clearing mangroves for an access track could affect both a living component and a non-living component of the wetland.

Investigate and plan

A restoration team collected these observations after a heavy-rain period. The figures are illustrative monitoring results, not official water-quality standards.

Site

Water clarity (cm)

Dissolved oxygen (mg/L)

Vegetated creek edge

7.1

Cleared creek edge

4.8

5.Which site had clearer water, and what evidence supports your answer?

6.The cleared site also had lower dissolved oxygen. Suggest one possible link between vegetation clearing and this result, and name one reason the two readings alone do not prove that clearing caused it.

7.Select the strongest first action for reducing fertiliser runoff from nearby farms while monitoring whether it works.

Work with landholders to establish vegetated buffer strips and compare water-quality readings before and after
Remove more creek-edge plants to improve access for visitors
Stop monitoring because one sample is enough
Add more fertiliser so plants grow faster in the wetland

Perspectives and stewardship

Consider how responsibilities, knowledge and practical decisions can shape environmental management.

8.The Traditional Owners have offered to guide planning. Give one respectful way the restoration group could work with them, including how it should handle knowledge that is not approved for sharing.

9.Match each role to the contribution it could make to the wetland project.

Natural resource manager
Nature-based tourism guide
Outdoor leadership instructor

Teaches safe group practices and reduces disturbance during activities
Plans habitat protection and monitors ecosystem condition
Interprets wetland features and encourages low-impact visitor behaviour

10.Write a short recommendation to the community group. Propose two actions that balance wetland health, visitor access and respectful collaboration. Explain how the group could check whether the actions are effective.