Sustainability

Question 1

What is Overharvesting

Answer 1

Acquiring resources at a rate that is not sustainable and beyond replenishment

Question 1

Overharvesting example

Answer 1

• The Southern Bluefin Tuna is a large marine species prized for sashimi, Critically endangered as their numbers have fallen to 5% of pre-fishing levels
• Before the Southern Bluefin Tuna was harvested, the population gradually increased, but now, the population may become so small that it is no longer economical to continue fishing

Question 2

Overharvesting
- Population viability

Answer 2

• If birth rates are greater than death rates, the population will increase
• Smaller populations are also more vulnerable to disaster; the Corroboree frog is only found in the southern highlands of New South Wales, and doesn’t start to reproduce until four years old. Bushfires have reduced their population and habitat size

Question 3

Overharvesting
- Maximum sustainable yield

Answer 3

• The largest amount that can be harvested without reducing the number of species to levels that aren’t viable
• Used in the fishing industry to predict the amount of fish that can be harvested while keeping the population viable

Question 4

• Water pollution

Answer 4

• As fertiliser runs off into waterways and river systems, nutrients become concentrated, causing an increase in algae and cyanobacteria. The use of fertilisers has made this process, known as eutrophication, more severe, widespread and frequent. These algal blooms reduce light availability, which kills bottom dwelling aquatic plants. The algae then uses up all the oxygen and kills other organisms, making water supplies less sustainable
• The Botany Sand Beds aquifer has a shallow water table, meaning that groundwater is close to the surface and can be easily contaminated. Industrial activities around Botany and surrounding suburbs can pollute the aquifer with heavy metals and toxic chemicals

Question 5

• Habitat removal or destruction

Answer 5

• Habitat removal is caused by clearing land for farms and urban land
• Habitat destruction is caused by natural events
• Logging and deforestation decrease biodiversity and make organisms prone to extinction
• Land clearing decreases the number of healthy ecosystems and isolates small populations, making them vulnerable to diseases

Question 6

investigate the processes used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as sustainable resource managers, for example:
- cultural traditions that preserve Country and Place and the resources located in those spaces

Answer 6

• Totems can be an animal or plant, given by elders, that reflect their kinship and language. They have the unique responsibility and obligations of protecting and managing their totem. ATSI Peoples refrain from hunting the animal of their totem and care for their animal’s environment to sustain its life cycle
• Fire-stick farming is where small areas are regularly burnt to encourage plant growth, maintenance or sowing. This process removes undergrowth and the build-up of dry material to prevent large destructive fires, while also maintaining soil cover. This allows ATSI Peoples to plan and predict where animals will graze, areas with edible plants and where fresh drinking water can be sustained, which ensures constant food supplies.