Critical thinking questionsYou are involved in a new suburb development as the consulting ecologist. The suburb is being created on uncleared native...

Critical thinking questionsYou are involved in a new suburb development as the consulting ecologist. The suburb is being created on uncleared native bush. The development is designed to be "environmentally friendly" and so aims to preserve as much biodiversity as possible.

Part of the area has been used to graze animals, although it was not cleared.

Qn. 1. When the suburb is fully developed it has been estimated that there will only be sufficient bush remaining to support a population of 20 kangaroos. Your first task is to determine what the current population of kangaroos in the project area is. As you have limited time, you opt for the Haynes Modification Strip Census Technique. a. The proposed suburb was 1 x 2 km ( rectangular in shape), and the bush is relatively open, allowing you to see animals around 100 m away.

Describe how you how you would conduct a one - off transect to best determine the kangaroo population. (10 marks) b. In the end , you w alk a 1 km transect around the area. O n your census you obtain the following distances between you and the kangaroos you spot during your walk. These data are presented below. Distances (in m): 2, 23, 5 , 6, 20 , 5, 1, 2, 5, 1, 8 , 1 , 1 What is the density of kangaroos in the area? Will the developer need to relocate some of the kangaroos to another area? Population Density = ( 10 marks) Population Density n= number of animals seen = 10000 1 d ⎛ ⎝ ⎞ ⎠ ∑ 2 L = length of the transect in metres d = distances measured in metres 10000 = converts m 2 to hectares 2.

Describe in detail using your ecological knowledge what you expect to happen to the vegetation once the area is cleared of grazing animals? (10 marks