Climax Communities | Take many years to grow, must be managed meticulously |
Soils | Become less productive if not managed appropriately. Damaged easily, plants are sensitive to changes in the soil |
Old growth forests | Climax communities which take many years to establish. Managed for tourism and preservation of the system |
Coral Reefs | Balance conservation with tourism. Ecosystem can be damaged by certain practices [pollution, sunscreen damages coral] |
Stratified Sampling | Sampling technique wherein an ecosystem is divided into strata/zones, each stratum is randomly selected |
Minimising Sampling Bias | - Large number of samples
- Random placement of quadrats across a strata using a number generator
- Specific rules set before sampling [i.e., if an organism only half in the quadrat counts]
- Use of calibrated instruments |