Unit 4

Area of Study 1
Healthy Outdoor Environments
The potential impact on society and outdoor
environments of land degradation,
introduced species, climate change,
urbanisation and other significant threats.
 The importance of healthy outdoor
environments
Today we will be learning about:
The potential impact on society and outdoor
environments of land degradation, introduced
species, climate change, urbanisation and other
significant threats.

You will need to be able to:

Identify and predict the potential impact of
significant threats on society and outdoor
environments.
 The importance of healthy outdoor
environments
The Australian environment has adapted to
harsh climatic conditions over millions of years.
Its soils lack nutrients and the land mass has
been isolated for thousands of years without
any interactions with threatening introduced
species or human caused impacts.
 The importance of healthy outdoor
environments
Because of this it is quite fragile, and the
following environmental threats have been and
still are an ongoing issue:
Land degradation
Introduced species
Climate change
Urbanisation
 Land Degradation
Land degradation is broken down into three
main types:
Salinity
Soil contamination
Erosion
 Land Degradation
Salinity:
This refers to areas of land that have high salt
levels in its soils. It is brought upon by land
clearing and irrigated farming
 Land Degradation
Salinity:
All soils contain a small amount of salt. But
when large trees are removed from an
ecosystem the water table below the surface
rises bringing with large amounts of salt with it.

Most life forms can not survive in environments

containing large amounts of salt. Have you ever
tried drinking sea water?
 Land Degradation
Salinity:
Salinity has devastated almost 6 million hecteres of
land across Australia. It threatens:
Wetlands
Wildlife
Farmland
Drinking water
Town services
Infrastructure
 Land Degradation
Soil contamination:
This occurs when farmers:
Over fertilize the soil
Alter wetland drainage
 Land Degradation
Soil contamination:
By doing these things we alter the acidity of the
soil making it useless for growing produce or
native species
 Land Degradation
Soil contamination:
It can be fixed by applying lime to the soil but
this is extremely costly and prevention strategies
are a more practical solution. These include:
Rotation cropping
Regular soil testing
Moderation of fertilizer application
 Land Degradation
Erosion:
Wind and water erosion occurs naturally but
humans can speed up the process by:
Overgrazing
Land clearing
Causing salinity
 Land Degradation
Erosion:
Just like soils, our sand dunes are held together
by the root systems of plants. Placing pressures
on these plants by introducing pests and
introduced species and not using paths, the root
systems can not hold the sand together and it
will literally blow away
 Land Degradation
Erosion:
Steps taken to prevent, repair or halt the
damage of erosion include:
Revegitation programs
Rests and rotation grazing
Control of pest species
Increased farming of native animals
Reduced farming of cows and sheep
 Introduced Species
Australia contains:
2800 species of weeds
1-400 introduced marine species
34 introduced fish species
25 introduced species of mammals
26 introduces bird species
6 introduced reptile species
1 introduced amphibian species
An unknown amount of invertebrate species
 Introduced Species
The most devastating introduced species in
Australia include:
Blackberries
Rabbits
Foxes
Cane toads
European Carp
 Introduced Species
They cause:
Damage to land and water resources
Carry diseases
Prey on native wildlife
Compete with native species for food and
shelter
 Introduced Species
Blackberries:
Were introduced to Australia in the mid 1800s.
It:
Limits access to water sources
Displaces native plants
Provides habbitat for other introduced species
such as rabbits and foxes
Reduces viable grazing land
Reduces the aesthetic value of public lands,
parks and reserves
 Introduced Species
Rabbits:
Were first introduced in the 18th century by the
first fleet for food and became widespread after
an outbreak near Geelong in 1859.
 Introduced Species
Rabbits:
Contribute to soil erosion by burrowing,
removing vegetation and disturbing soil
Economic damage by feral rabbits is estimated
at about $600million per year
 Introduced Species
Foxes:
Were introduced to Australia in the 1940s for
the sport of hunting.
 Introduced Species
Foxes:
Have caused a decline in the number of
ground nesting birds and small to medium
sized animals
Cause significant economic loss to farmers by
preying on lambs and kid goats as well as
chickens and ducks
 Introduced Species
Cane toads:
Were introduced in 1935 to control the
destructive cane beetle in far North Queensland.
It has since spread right across the Northern
Territory and into Western Australia
 Introduced Species
Cane toads:
It produces a toxin on its skin as a defense
mechanism and many native Australian animals
such as the goanna, snakes and quolls die
shortly after ingesting the toxin. The population
of native species have dropped since the
introduction of the Cane toad.
 Introduced Species
Marine pests:
The Northern Pacific sea star was introduced via
the ballast water from ships. It is believed that
they reproduce so quick that there numbers got
to 12million just two years after being
discovered in Tasmanian waters.
 Introduced Species
Marine pests:
The Northern Pacific sea star eats mussels,
scallops and clams and threatens the scallop
industry in southern Australia.
 Introduced Species
European Carp:
Introduced to Australia in the late 1850s to
for European acclimatization.
They are a pest species due to bottom feeding
on rivers, stirring up sediment and affecting
the turbidity of the water.
Makes things difficult for plant growth, effects
native fish species, causes erosion.
 Climate Change
It is the significant and lasting change in weather
patterns over an extended period of time.
It occurs naturally as a result of:
Volcanic activity
The earths orbit
The suns energy output
Tectonic activity
But it is the human causes which are of great
concern as we are speeding up onset of climate
change. This is called Global Warming
 Climate Change
Global warming:
The increased burning of fossil fuels such as
coal, oil and gas has dramatically increased the
amount of greenhouse gasses in the earths
atmosphere such as carbon dioxide and
methane.
 Climate Change
Global Warming:
Records indicate that the global average air
temperature has increased by 0.85 degrees
since 1880.
 Climate Change
Climate change will impact:
Agricultural production
Human health
Water and food security
Infrastructure
 Climate Change
Potential impacts on society include:
Reduced availability of water
Less snowfall
Rising sea levels
Flooding
Reduction in the production of food sources
Increased amount of extreme heat days
See page 270 of the text to better understand
the implications of these impacts
 Climate Change
Potential impacts on outdoor environments
include:
Increase in droughts and floods
Reduction in fish numbers due to low water flow
and increased salinity
Loss of coral reefs as water become too warm
and acidic
Increased risk of bushfires
Species extinction
Ecosystems changing as existing climates change
and species adapt
 Climate Change
Humans will need to adapt to the changing
conditions however if we adopt more
sustainable practices that lower our greenhouse
gas emissions such as renewable energy we may
be able to minimise the impact of climate
change or slow down its onset

http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2013/s
3682086.htm
 Urbanisation
Refers to the development of towns and cities
and the increasing amount of people that live in
urban areas

It can be described as urban sprawl

 Urbanisation
90% of Australians live in urban areas placing
huge pressures on the environment as more and
more people look to purchase homes on the
outskirts of urban areas. This leads to the
development of railway systems, roads, schools,
shopping centers, hospitals, parks and sporting
fields leading to significant land clearing, high
energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions
 Urbanisation
Impacts of urbanisation include increased:
Demands for land, leading to a loss of vegetation,
habitat and biodiversity
Demand for water, reducing the availability to native
flora and fauna
Air, water and soil pollution due to run off from
developed areas and chemicals from agriculture
Need for waste disposal
Concentrations of greenhouse gasses leading to
environmental and health issues
Retention of heat, causing increased use of heaters
Strain on sanitation and health systems
Land degradation
 Urbanisation
Other significant environmental threats include:
Habitat modification
Loss of river flows
Vegetation loss
 Urbanisation
Habitat modification:
It is obvious now that the reduction or removal
of a species can have a devastating impact on
biodiversity. Earlier we learnt about the
importance of biodiversity.
 Urbanisation
Loss of river flows:
Damming, diverting water flows or sometimes
both can have detrimental impacts on
ecosystems as rivers that once flowed seasonally
may completely dry up and cause a massive
modification to the species found in that
environment
 Urbanisation
Vegetation Loss:
About 2500 hectares of native vegetation is lost
every year in Victoria. Clearing land for human
settlements, grazing, logging, and growing crops
have altered environments and sometimes
completely removed all natural vegetation and
habitats for animals
 Urbanisation
Vegetation loss:
Ideally, plantation timber will soon meet all
demands of for timber and forest products.
Clear felling (cutting down all the trees on the
one site) is one of the most devastating
practices as new trees struggle to grow back
without the shelter of older trees around them
 Learning Activity
Complete question 1 and 3 in the learning
activity on page 272 Threats to social and
outdoor environments.