Ecosystems At Risk - Clarification (1 Viewer)

[Montato]

Hey, I know this area is generally pretty dead - but felixthecat got a couple of responses to their thread just a few days ago, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

For the two case studies that we have to have of ecosystems - are they about the ecosystem as a biome (ie. globally), or about single case studies - such as the Great Barrier Reef, or a mixture of both (ie. Talk about coral reefs at a local scale, then go to regional, then global).

If it helps, the syllabus says:

"case studies of ecosystems
TWO case studies of different ecosystems at risk to illustrate their unique
characteristics including: . . .

The selected ecosystems at risk could include areas such as coastal dunes,
freshwater wetlands,inter-tidal wetlands,coral reefs,arid areas,alpine areas,
rainforests,temperate forests."

I've trimmed out the middle bits. But if any one could answer my question, that'd be great.

Just summing up: Do we need case studies at a global level, local level or both?

 

[uhawww]

My best results come from when I've referred to both (essay question in the trial asked to refer to a case study as well as one from the stimulus booklet, got 18/20). A few times I refered with something like "at the Great Barrier Reef" and identified issues that directly occur there, but other references I made were such things as "global warming can impact on coral reefs by bleeching the coral" (for a very dimmed down example).

Generally you'll need to respond to the case study on a global level, but making references to a local case study as well (which you should have covered) seems to be best.

 

[The_highwayman]

Both.

You look at specific ecosystems (such as the great barrier reef) as a case study of what occurs in a general ecosystem of that type (ie: "coral reefs")

 

[Montato]

Thanks to both of you - it's helped to clarify things alot.

It also means I know understand where to fit in alot of my class notes and handouts. Cheers.