The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is more than just coral reefs. Join us to discover a variety of ecosystems that are found there. Develop an understanding of the inter-relationships between the organisms that can be found in different ecosystems including predator-prey interactions, and symbiotic relationships. Investigate how changes in biotic and abiotic factors arising from human activities can affect feeding relationships in these ecosystems, including how poor water quality increases algal growth, and population outbreaks of coral eating Crown-of-thorns starfish.

There are 14 coastal ecosystems that are important to the function of the Reef: coral reefs, lagoon floors, islands, open water, seagrass, coastline, estuaries, freshwater wetlands, forested floodplains, health and shrublands, grass and sedge lands, woodlands, forests, and rainforests.

Duration: 60 minutes

No, but there is a variety of teacher resources available:

• GBRMPA Teaching Unit – Year 7 science – Wetlands

• GBRMPA Teaching Unit – Year 9 Science – Ecosystems

Please see attached Ecosystems and Reef relationships for more details and links to additional reference materials.

No prior knowledge is required.

In this program students will:

• Learn what is an ecosystem
• Appreciate the diversity of ecosystems on the reef and the importance of connectivity between them
• Examine the roles and relationships among organisms in a variety of reef ecosystems

In this video conference students will:

• Examine how human activities can impact these ecosystems and the organisms within them
• Interact with presenters and be able ask individual questions
• Have access to supporting materials for pre- and/or post-event study

Science: Science Understanding

• There are similarities and differences within and between groups of organisms living on Earth; the development and use of classification tools, including dichotomous keys, help order and organise human understanding of the diversity of life (VC2S8U01)
• Matter and energy flow through ecosystems and can be represented using models, including food webs and food pyramids; populations will be affected by changing biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem including habitat loss, climate change, seasonal migration and introduction or removal of species (VC2S8U04)