Criterion A: Inquiring and Analysing (1 week)

Identify the biome you have chosen and which species within it are at risk
Construct a research plan I have chosen the coastal biome, which is the area where the sea meets land. This includes areas
such as saltmarshes, beaches, estuaries and mangroves. Analyse inspirational products
Priority Research Question Answers Identify the species you will focus on
I have chosen the Hooded Plover as my species. Found throughout Eastern Australia from
Adelaide to Jervis Bay, they favour sandy beaches with low sand dunes that also have lots of
seaweed. Hooded Plovers are territorial and a pair will generally occupy just one beach. They
1 What species Coastal environments have been seriously
degraded in recent history (especially coastal
generally eat small invertebrates like crabs, insects and sandhoppers that they find in the sand
close to the water’s edge.
are most at risk wetlands), making species such as the Hooded
Plover, Eastern Curlew, Saltwater Crocodile,
within coastal seagrass and dugongs endangered. They nest in small scrapes in the sand that are just above the high-tide mark; their nests are often
https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/coasts/environment/c
areas within oastal-species#invertebrates-in-estuaries-and-
lined with seaweed and pebbles. After hatching, the small chicks leave the nest in just a day or
two.
Australia? bays

2 What kind of The Hooded Plover prefers open, sandy

beaches with lots of seaweed and some sand
habitat does dunes, normally found between Jervis Bay and
Southern Tasmania. However, these sorts of
your chosen beaches are also favoured by humans as well.
https://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/hooded-
species thrive plover
in?

Problems facing the Hooded Plover

3 What problems are facing the
Hooded Plover?
Only about 5000 Hooded Plovers remain today
due to a severe population drop in recent years.
The reason for this decline is that when human
(or even dogs) disrupt birds while they are
nesting, the birds leave their nest to distract
attention away from it, which often results in
overheated eggs. Hooded Plover hatchlings
also lose a lot of energy by retreating to the
sand dunes if they are disturbed by humans,
which impacts their ability to feed.
The Hooded Plover has suffered drastic population decline in recent years, with only around 5000
individuals left. It is classified as Endangered nationally and Critically Endangered in New South
Wales. The main reason for its decline is increases in human activity in its preferred
breeding areas, sandy beaches with low sand dunes. The problem is that human disturbance to
the birds while they are nesting causes them to abandon their nest, which can cause eggs to
overheat. Human disturbance also means that Hooded Plover hatchlings run back to the dunes
every time they are disturbed, expending lots of energy and reducing the amount of food they can
consume.

4 What solutions are already in

place?
What is an area highly
5 frequented by both humans
and Hooded Plovers, that
might be suitable for a
design?
There are a few solutions already in place that
are helping to increase the small Hooded Plover
population. One is the use of small, cost-
effective wooden shelters that provide shelter for Design brief
chicks if they are disturbed by humans or are
threatened by predators. This has been highly
successful in proportion to the small investment
made, increasing chick survival by more than 40
percent in some cases. According to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, and the Victorian DEEC,
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/ the hooded plover has ‘declined in abundance and distribution…large areas of the species’
wildlife/2021/08/homes-for-hoodies-saving-
beach-nesting-birds/ habitat…[has been] destroyed and degraded,’ and it is ‘facing an extremely high risk of
extinction in New South Wales,’. The main problem is that Hooded Plovers nest on sandy
The Mornington Peninsula National Park is one
of the last remaining strongholds for Hooded beaches during spring/summer, which just happens to be the time when humans love to go
Plovers in Victoria. It is also incredibly popular
with day-trippers and residents of the area, who
the beach. As a result, lots of Hooded Plover eggs are crushed accidentally, while
often get into conflict with Parks Victoria over disturbance of the adult birds leaves the eggs overheating. BirdLife Australia has stepped
the question of dog-walking on the beaches.
In 2016 Parks Victoria (and the Mornington up efforts lately to help save the plover from extinction; this includes highly successful
Peninsula Shire) responded to a disastrous
breeding season, which was attributed to dog-
public awareness efforts, fencing off of breeding areas, and the building of small, cheap
walking near breeding sites, by banning all dogs shelters that have drastically improved chick survival. Although these projects/products
from the entire national park.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/dog have been successful, none of these projects are really large-scale ones that involve
-ban-at-mornington-peninsula-national-park- significant infrastructure. My idea is a project involving significant landscaping in an area of
gives-plover-lovers-cover-to-breed-20160311-
gngb9m.html Mornington Peninsula National Park-an important breeding ground for Hooded Plovers. A
However, the Shire then came under criticism
for not providing enough off-leash spaces for the permanent exclusion zone, fenced in not by wire but vegetation and grasses, will protect an
dogs they were banning, meaning that dog- breeding area while a dune boardwalk will provide an alternative for visitors.
owners had nowhere to walk their dogs off-
leash.
https://www.mpnews.com.au/2016/03/21/plover-
protectors-take-dogs-side/
These two news stories provide incentive for a
project or design that allows humans, their dogs,
and Hooded Plovers to coexist on the
Mornington Peninsula National Park