Natural Vegetation of your Area Take-home Lab Assignment

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Table of Contents

The natural vegetation of your suburb
Factors which influence Sydney vegetation
Endangered Ecological Communities in your area
Works Cited

The natural vegetation of your suburb

A Pre-European Vegetation Community of Sydney

The pre-European vegetation community of Sydney was made up of grassy woodlands. The grass in these woodlands was tall and perennial. The woodlands had a variety of large wild flowers. Shrubs were also present in these woodlands. The examples of these wild flowers and shrubs were the yams, wattles, and peas (Benson 6).

Pre–European vegetation in Sydney had a range of vegetation. They ranged from fire tolerant to fire intolerant vegetation. The Bushes were very thick. This was because there was no careless clearing of bushes. In addition, cases of fire in these areas during Pre-European vegetation period were very rare.

In Sydney, different grass boxes grew as a result of high nutrient soils and high rainfalls. Trees like Leptospermum spp and Eucalyptus camaldulensis were dominant on the river banks (Benson 6). At the coast, there were mangroves, salt marshes, and sea grass.

This vegetation grew in bays and estuaries. Last, the tablelands had peat bogs and lagoon in the low lying areas (Benson and Howell 8). In conclusion, pre-European vegetation in Sydney was mainly made up of trees, grass, shrubs, and wild flowers.

Changes to this vegetation community in the Post European Period

Sydney’s basin covers a large region from the Bowen basin to the Gunnedah basin. It has Premo-Triassic sediments on the onshore side and over 5000 meters of sediments on the offshore. The basin overlies an area of carboniferous and volcano-clastic sediment that indicates intense geo-morphological changes before the period of the basin formation.

Geologists believe that the Sydney’s basin was formed during the early Permian period. The current Sydney’s offshore is a migration path for many people each year. However, the onshore has become a hub for several cities because of their attractive features.

In 1820, Sydney’s suburbs experienced cases of frequent fires (Attenbrow 42). The effects of these fires can be seen in some parts of Sydney.

Factors which influence Sydney vegetation

The geology and geomorphology of the Sydney Basin and how your suburb fits into this region

Geologists believe that Sydney took its shape during the expansion of the earth crust. The prior stages of development came about when the continental rift was filling the marine volcanic sediments. As a result of coal deposits, the upper parts of the Sydney’s basin had a quartz sand stone covering.

This sand stone covering is known as the Hawkesbury Sandstone. The deposits of Hawkesbury were made available by rivers flowing into this region. The accumulation of sediments led to the formation of a thin cap of shale on the sand stones. The late stage of basin filling is a representation of the north-eastern bio-region that sometimes experiences volcanic eruptions.

The coastal side has got most of Sydney’s mountains and escarpments. The blue mountain has a frontal slope made from lap stone monocline (Attenbrow 43). Most of the Sydney’s basin is an elevation of sand stone plateau. The rest of the basin is a hunter plateau, and a low-land Cumberland plain (Benson and Howell 160).

In fitting to my suburb, Sydney Central Business District (CBD), there emerges a difference between my suburb and the geology and geomorphology of Sydney basin. One can hardly recognize the features that were present in the earlier Sydney’s geology and geomorphology in my current suburb.

The shorelines in my suburb do not have sand stone ledges, sand beaches, or sand banks at the river mouth. These characteristics were present on early Sydney’s basin. The hills at the bank of the tank stream lack a covering of Hawkesbury sand, which was also a key feature of the Sydney’s basin.

What are the important climatic variables that influence the distribution of vegetation communities across Sydney? How does your suburb fit into this regional climate?

There are different climatic factors that influence on the distribution of vegetation across Sydney. These factors include temperature, rainfall and soil chemistry (Eamus et al. 7). First, there are changes in the rainfall patterns. These changes have affected growth of vegetation especially the vegetation that relies on high rainfalls.

Second, the resulting warming has led to the melting of mountain ice capes leading to frequent flooding. Flooding destroys the vegetation and also leads to soil erosion. Last, the decreasing soil fertility contributes to the destruction of the native forests. Vegetation does not reach maturity because the soils are not fertile enough to provide for a large population of vegetation.

In my suburb, there has been clearing of vegetation that can attract rainfall. This clearing has left many mountains and hills under soil erosion threats, reducing the number of native vegetation.

How do geology and climate influence the vegetation of your suburb?

Sydney CBD suburb has low soil nutrient content. It is only the soil within the rocks that is fertile (Benson and Howell 43). The remaining soil in other areas is infertile. In addition, there has been a destruction of most landforms in my suburb. This destruction affects vegetation distribution because various landforms that support different types of vegetation are destroyed.

Climate also affects vegetation distribution in Sydney CBD suburb. The clearing down of the vegetation for the purpose of constructing buildings has led to a change in climate.

The increase in temperatures has led to cases of wetlands drying in Sydney CBD suburbs. Drying of wet lands has led to a reduction in the number of swampy vegetation available in Sydney. For example, there is a reduction in the population of mangroves.

Compare vegetation in the suburb with another region in Sydney. Explain the differences in vegetation

Auburn is different from other suburbs that surround Sydney. In this suburb, cases of forests clearance are low compared to the Sydney’s CBD suburb. Benson and Howell describe Auburn region as a region in which developments were low until World War I (46).

Unlike Sydney’s CBD suburb, Auburn experiences substantial rainfall. This rainfall is enough for the growth of vegetation in this region. In Auburn region, one can find remnants of indigenous trees that are rare in other places.

The difference between vegetation distribution in Auburn suburb and Sydney’s suburb results from the development factor. The underdeveloped nature of Auburn until World War I was important in avoiding clearing of the forestlands in this region. Conversely, Sydney’s CBD suburbs experienced developments before World War I resulting in land clearing and hence reducing the vegetation population.

Endangered Ecological Communities in your area

Endangered Ecological Community’ in your region

In the Sydney’s CBD suburb, the mangroves are the endangered ecological community. During the pre–European community vegetation period, mangroves were available at the coasts, swamps and at the river banks.

During this time, a botanist could easily locate the mangroves on the valleys of Tank Stream (Benson and Howell 42). The mangroves in this period were plenty because soils in this region had high nutrients and the land had abundant rainfall.

Currently, it is harder for a botanist to locate mangroves when examining cloves in the Sydney’s CBD. This is a result of two different events. First, there has been a destruction of the land forms that favor the growth of mangroves. Second, the swamps in Sydney are drying up. This makes it hard for the mangroves to grow.

The difference between endangered and vulnerable community and species

The Threatened Species Conversation act of 1995 has been vital in protecting the endangered and vulnerable species. Endangered species or communities refer to a community or species that are at risk of extinction as a result of existing in few numbers or the changing climate conditions.

Vulnerable community or species refer to the species that are likely to become an endangered species in the near future. The International Union for Conservation Nature, IUCN, has the responsibility of recognizing and categorizing species.

Species become vulnerable as a result of the adverse natural or manmade circumstances facing them. Unlike, the endangered species, vulnerable species can be abundant in number when the IUCN declares them to be vulnerable and as a result puts strategies that focus on conserving them.

Key threatening Processes that are applicable to the community in 3.1.

There are various threatening processes to the community of mangroves in the Sydney’s CBD suburb. These processes include the changing climate conditions, and the developments of Sydney’s suburb region. The changing climate conditions have led to the drying of swamps. Drying of swamps is a circumstance that threatens the future of the mangrove vegetation.

The increasing development activities in Sydney’s suburb region are a threat to the mangroves community. In the process of constructing, the constructors destroy the basic land forms hence destroying the soil chemistry. The soils lose their fertility and become deficient in nutrients that nurture plants.

In addition, the constructors have to clear the land for them to get enough space for construction processes. In conclusion, it is fair to state that it is the human activities that threaten the mangroves community in Sydney’s CBD.

Works Cited

Attenbrow, Val. Sydney’s Aboriginal Past: Investigating the Archaeological and Historical Records. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press Ltd, 2010. Print.

Benson, Doug, and Howell Jocelyn. Taken for Granted: The Bushland of Sydney and its Suburbs. Sydney: Kangaroo Press, 1990. Print.

Benson, John. Setting the Seen: The native Vegetation of New South Wales. Sydney: Native vegetation Advisory Council of New South Wales, 1999. Print.

Eamus, Derek, Tom Hatton, Peter Cook and Christine Colvin. Ecohydrology: Vegetation Function, Water and Resource Management. Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing, 2006. Print.

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