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Listed under:  Science  >  Life  >  Ecosystems  >  Food webs
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Marine scientist in the laboratory

This is a colour photograph of marine scientist Dr Miles Lamare. Dr Lamare is in his office at the Portobello Marine Laboratory at the University of Otago, New Zealand. On the desk behind Dr Lamare is the scientific equipment he uses to download data from electronic tags, which he attaches to sea stars.

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Sciencey: Will Australia have the last bees on Earth?

Bee populations around the world have started vanishing, in a process known as colony collapse disorder. Scientists have many ideas about what causes colony collapse, including one possible culprit: the varroa mite. Australia is one of the last places on Earth unaffected by varroa. Could this mean that Australia could have ...

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SmartGraphs - African Lions: Modeling Populations - iTunes app

Investigate population modelling by studying the renowned African lions of the Ngorongoro Crater including real-life scientific data. Analyse graphs and data to answer questions and make predictions about changes in the lion population and other population models. Find out about important ecological and modelling concepts. ...

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Chicken farming in the living world: Stage 5

Chickens are fascinating animals and provide students with an interesting subject matter to discuss the many aspects of our living world. This interactive course for students explores the question 'How does the closed system of a chicken meat farm model the interactions, flow of energy and the cycling of matter through ...

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Animal survivor

This resource provides a scaffold for students to analyse the features of a Queensland animal and relate them to its survival success. Students then conduct the animal design challenge: Engineering new features for their animal to increase its chance of survival and future success. Students also make predictions about how ...

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Watering the largest river red gum forest

This nine minute video explores the importance of environmental flows to maintain the ecological health of the Barmah-Millewa Forest in the Murray Darling Basin. This forest is a RAMSAR site and an icon site of the Living Murray with great social, economic, cultural, environmental and spiritual significance. While the forest ...

Interactive

Environmental forensics at sea

The main screen shows a marine environment and research boat against a background of coastal hills and a fiord. There are two entry points for investigation: Phytoplankton clues and Sediment cores, containing five interviews with a scientist explaining how science investigations can be used as a forensic tool to investigate ...

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Scientists study suburban microbats

Discover the tiny bats that live in Australian backyards in urban areas, including large cities. Watch this clip to learn more about these elusive Australian mammals, and to find out about a large-scale survey undertaken in Melbourne. Scientist, Dr Rodney van der Ree, addresses a group of volunteers in the field and explains ...

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BTN: Curbing the carp population

Find out why European carp fish are called 'river rabbits' in Australia. Listen to how they came to Australia and what makes them such a pest now.Discover how a local entrepreneur is exploiting the new resource while scientists are doing their best to cap the carp population explosion.

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Catalyst: Quoll rescue

Discover what threatens a native Australian predator and how scientists are hoping to save it from extinction. This clip about quolls in the Northern Territory describes the causes of its decline and a rescue strategy to save it from extinction. The strategy has a surprising twist - it features the very thing that is threatening ...

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Bryozoans' role in the ecosystem

This is a colour video clip of marine scientist Associate Professor Abby Smith discussing the role bryozoans play in marine ecosystems. The clip shows Abby Smith, a teacher and researcher at the University of Otago, New Zealand, being interviewed. The clip also shows underwater photos of bryozoans, fish and corals.

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Understanding food webs

This is a colour video clip in which ecologist Associate Professor Stephen Wing of the University of Otago talks about the importance of understanding food webs, particularly in marine ecosystems. He gives examples of how such understanding has been applied in Fiordland, New Zealand. Still images shown include marine organisms, ...

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Working as an ecologist

This is a colour video clip in which marine ecologist Dr Candida Savage of the University of Otago in New Zealand talks about her work, what led her to it and why she enjoys doing it. She explains how her research involves a variety of experiences, requiring creativity and collaboration with other scientists in many different ...

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Catalyst: Chemical pollutants toxic to whales

Explore how chemical pollutants affect the Antarctic food web. A scientist shows that baleen whales are consuming Antarctic krill contaminated by accumulated residues of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from pesticides and industrial chemicals. Find out why these pollutants are concentrated at the Earth's polar regions.

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Landline: Spinifex research

What does spinifex grass contain that might prove useful in modern buildings? Watch this clip and discover how Aboriginal knowledge, combined with Western science, is unlocking the potential of spinifex. Find out about this natural resource and how it could become a new, sustainable material for the building industry.

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Catalyst: Plants and increased levels of carbon dioxide

We know that most plants use carbon dioxide to make their own food. So what might plants look like in 100 years if carbon dioxide levels continue to increase - will they become enormous and overtake our backyards? View the possible effects of changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide on plants and, in turn, humans and other animals.

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Four Corners: Ecological effects of bushfires

Did you know that Australia is the most flammable continent on Earth? Watch this clip to discover how bushfires impact natural ecosystems, and how the increasing global threat of bushfires may affect Australia. Australian scientists explain the ecological consequences of fire and a US expert describes his concerns for the future.

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Catalyst: Managing bushfires

To burn or not to burn? Investigate the science behind arguments for and against controlled burn-offs that aim to reduce the risk of bushfires to humans. Listen to the reasons Professor Mark Adams of Sydney University gives for a careful approach to prescribed burning.

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Catalyst: Toxic sediments

Learn how high levels of toxic sediments in Sydney Harbour have destroyed as much as 40 per cent of its invertebrates. Find out the main source of toxins. Learn how toxins become trapped in the sediment and distributed across the Harbour. Observe the devastating effects of toxic sediments on the food chain in 2010, when ...

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Catalyst: Coorong salinity

Imagine the mighty Murray River as it flows through South Australia and reaches the sea. Explore the consequences of drought and human activity while listening to Graham Phillips describe the effects of the Coorong's increasing salinity and the the associated threat to Adelaide's supply of fresh water.