science article 2

Springbrook National Park
Harry Bedford
Image 3 showing location of Springbrook National Park
Location
Springbrook National Park is located in the Gold Coast Hinterland in Queensland. A
site comparison was conducted to investigate the difference between two sites. Site 1
was “Off Track - Undisturbed” with minimal human interference. Site 2 was “On Track -
Disturbed” with substantial human impact.
Background Information
Springbrook National Park is listed as a World Heritage site as it is a remnant of the
north side of a volcano shield that was believed to dominate around 23 million years
ago. The shield wrapped around all of the Tweed Valley with Mt Warning being the
centre. The significance of this decision means that it will be protected for years to
come.
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Site Comparison
The Undisturbed and The Disturbed Site: On the day of the testing, the results were
recorded in two different places. The two sites were classed as ‘Disturbed” and
‘Undisturbed”. The purpose of this was to compare between the different areas and
determine the impact of humans.
The results are below:
Undisturbed site
At the undisturbed site, there was a small stream running with large rocks no canopy
cover over the stream and dense forest surrounding the area and abundance of small
seedlings and saplings. The time taken to conduct the measurements was 50 minutes,
there was a total of 25 seedlings and 17 saplings with leaf litter just under half of the
quadrat. The three trees in the 4 metre by 4 metre square quadrat were 2.31 metres,
2.12 metres and 3.08 metres with an average height of 2.5 metres tall. The average air
temperature was 17.1° C, the average ground temperature was 14.04° C and the soil
pH was 5.7. At this site, the average light intensity 602.1 LUX, an average 70% canopy
cover and an average of 42.50% ground cover. The human impacts found in the area
were beer bottles, thongs, plastic wrappers and pink plastic markers on trees. The
abiotic factors in the include soil, water, rocks, temperature and humidity.
Image 1 showing the stream flowing further down from site 1
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Tree Height in Metres - Undisturbed Site
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
TREE 1 TREE 2 TREE 3 AVERAGE
SEEDLINGS & SAPPLINGS - UNDISTURBED SITE
SAPLINGS
SEEDLINGS
Disturbed site
The disturbed site consists of an open area with no canopy surrounding an abandon
drilling station with tall trees and closed canopy to the side with few seedlings and
saplings. There was a total of 15 seedlings and 12 saplings with leaf litter covering just
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over half of the quadrat. The three trees between the quadrat had a height of 2.46
metres, 3.36 metres and 6.51 metres with an average height of 4.11. In this area, the
average air temperature was 16.7° C, the average ground temperature was 15.7 and
with a soil pH of 6. The area had an average light intensity of 1347.40 LUX, an
average of 75% canopy cover and an average ground cover of 55% At the disturbed
area the human impacts included: a concrete pathway, a wooden fence plastic
wrappers and an abandon drilling station. The abiotic factors for this area were soil,
temperature and humidity
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Tree Height in Metres - Disturbed Site
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
TREE 1 TREE 2 TREE 3 AVERAGE
Image 2 showing the summit of Mt Cougal
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SEEDLINGS & SAPLINGS - DISTURBED SITES
SAPLINGS
SEEDLINGS
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Comparison of the 2 sites
SEEDLINGS AND SAPPLINGS
The difference in the number of seedlings and saplings between the two areas is
mostly likely due to the fact that the undisturbed site doesn’t have people constantly
walking in and out as opposed to the disturbed site that was right next to the pathway,
this makes the growth of seedlings and saplings hard as they could be trampled.
TOTAL NUMBER OF SEEDLINGS AND SAPLINGS AT BOTH
SITES
DISTURBED SITE
UNDISTURBED SITE
TREE HEIGHT
The difference in the height of the trees differs due to where the quadrat was set up as
the other groups trees were higher.
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AIR & GROUND TEMPERATURE
The air temperature, the soil temperature and the light intensity for each site ranges
due to the amount canopy cover. That in turn effects the amount of sunlight that
reaches the soil and air unless there are any open spaces allowing sunlight to reach
those areas in the mornings and afternoons.
18
16
14
12
AIR & GROUND TEMP FOR BOTH SITES
10
8
6
14.04
15.7
17.1
16.7
4
2
0
GROUND TEMP
UNDISTURBED SITE
DISTURBED SITE
AIR TEMP
LIGHT INTENSITY AT BOTH SITES - MEASURED IN
LUX
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
UNDISTURBED SITE
UNDISTURBED SITE
DISTURBED SITE
DISTURBED SITE
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SOIL pH and CANOPY/GROUND COVER
The average soil pH of the for both of the sites are very close together and are in the
optimal growing range for plants.
The canopy cover for these sites are very close with the disturbed site with just a little
but denser, this is only due to where the quadrat was set up, for the other quadrats the
canopy cover was not as high. The ground cover in the two sites was similar to the
canopy cover as where it was placed was where all of the ground cover had fallen onto
the pathway and had been swept up onto our area, this creates a human impact as
there would not usually be as much ground cover in just one area.
Conclusion
This report shows the difference between a disturbed site an undisturbed site in the Mt
Cougal area. It demonstrates how the sites differ in terms of number of seedlings and
saplings, tree height, air temperature, soil temperature, soil pH, light intensity, canopy
cover and ground cover. Using the listed tests, the report is able to clearly indicate the
differences in the two sites.
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