Portfolio

ecology

Mette de
Haas
Floor
Stultiens
CA2G
Het College
Weert
Biology
04/07/2016
Table of contents
Introduction
3
Litter 4
Food pyramids 11
Adaptations
13
Urban ecology 19
Identify organisms to predict water quality
22
Natura 2000
23
Evaluation 33

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Introduction
In this report you will come along all the assignments we had to do for this
huge project. Some assignments are added later and not made in word so
those will not be in the table of contents. Hopefully this isnt a problem.
We hope that this report learns you something new. Enjoy!

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Litter
Everywhere you go you see rubbish. But
why do we do that if we know that it
brings so many problems? Dumping
rubbish has a lot of disadvantages. First of
all, it looks ugly and nasty. Everything
seems dirty and not clean at all. Another
problem is that it's really bad to the
environment. It takes years before the
nature has cleared up the rubbish. For
example a tin cola. It takes ages to clear
up something like that. This rubbish brings
certain chemical materials to the nature
which isn't that good. And what do you
think what happens to the rubbish you do clean? Or throw in a bin? This
rubbish will be burned or put under a layer of grass. If we burn rubbish
dangerous particles will appear in the air and that could be harmful for
animals and humans. But that's not the only dangerous consequence of
rubbish, dumped rubbish can be eaten by animals and this is really
dangerous for them. Think for example of the whales in the ocean, so
many times dies a whale because of just one plastic bag. One plastic bag!
Isn't that awful? The rubbish we make ourselves has such dramatic
consequences but we don't even realize that.
In this assignment we cleaned rubbish and divided it in different
categories. Examples of categories are rubber, plastic, aluminium and
Styrofoam.

Can
Around the school we found those two cans. They
are made up of aluminium. Aluminium is a special
metal. Cans are a good example of products that
are made up of aluminium. Its mainly used as a
packaging of oil, chemicals and other liquids. We
use aluminium in our daily life, think for example
of the material you use to protect your food
against air or other gasses.
Advantages of aluminium is:
Light weight
Cans dont weight a lot. Thats really handy for travelling or other
activities when you need something like food or drinks. It is three
times lighter than steal.
Different strengths
Aluminium can have different strengths. Think
of the aluminium you use to pack your bread
and think of cans. The strength of those two
products are totally different. This is very

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 useful and handy. Because of this many different products can be
made out of aluminium.
Flexibile
The melting point of aluminium is really low because of this its easy
to give it a certain form. This is a big advantage to invent new
products.

High corrosion resistance

Because aluminium reacts with oxygen this causes a small layer of
oxide over the aluminium. Thanks to this layer it has a high
corrosion resistance. If this layer get damaged, it will repair itself.

Styrofoam
Styrofoam consists 98% out of air. This makes
styrofoam very light and it causes that it can float on
water. Because the density of styrofoamis lower than
the density of water. It is used for a lot of different
products. Building materials are for example made of
styrofoam but its also used as packaging. Recently
doctors discovered that styrofoam probably could be
used against cancer as well. If you look closely to
Styrofoam you see it consists of little pearls.
Styrofoam is also often used as isolation material.
Characteristics:
Its strong
The material is very light but its very strong. This is special because
most light materials are not that strong.
Water cant go through it
We already told you that styrofoam floats on top of water. So its
logic that water cant go through it. The small pearls in styrofoam
are close to each other so its difficult for water to go through it.

Mixed material
As you can see on this photo, this material consist of
plastic and paper. If you want to throw this away you
have to separate the paper from the plastic. Than you
can put the plastic where it belongs and the paper
where it belongs.

Paper
Paper is made of wood or other natural substances
compressed in a thin layer called paper. Paper can be
used in different types. Youve for example;
wallpaper, wrapping paper and toilet paper. Because
paper is in so many different categories it doesnt
have certain characteristics. For example cardboard
has different properties than simple A4 paper.

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Plastic
Plastic is a common name for actually three different materials:
elastomers, thermoset and thermoplastic.

Elastomers
Elastomers are elastic which means if you bow it, it will go back to its
original form. Actually its a combination of the properties of thermosets
and thermoplastic. Rubber is an example of elastomers. We found a rubber
tire of a bicycle but there are many more products made up of rubber.
Think of sport items like gloves and balls or floor linings of the gym. But
there is also rubber found in clothes. Like belts and boots. But also toys
are made out of rubber. What did you think of balloons or trampolines?
This is all made out of rubber.
You can recognize rubber by:
Its flexibility
You can imagine for example a tire of a
bicycle is very flexible but a tire of a car is
much more stronger this has to do with the
density of rubber in the object.
Its incompressible
This means you cant make one big
substance of it when you put everything
together. This is because it is too soft.
However rubber is more compressible than
steal or metal.
Difficult to damage
In difficult words it says: rubber has a high resistant to wear. Rubber
is a material that is difficult to damage. You can use it for a longer
time because its resistant to most environmental circumstances.
Its friction is high
Thats why rubber is often used in cars and bicycles. Rubber
decreases the chance of slipping and falling. This is a big advantage
of rubber and also for humanity.
Good corrosion resistance
Rubber doesnt get another colour if it comes in contact with water.
Iron and cupper for example do get a reddish or greenish colour on
some places.
Low electrical conductivity
Rubber can be used as a good isolation thanks to its low electrical
conductivity

Thermoset
Stay hard or fall apart when its being heated up.
The big difference between thermosets and
thermoplastic is the heating part. You can
compare thermosets to hard plastic. If you try to
bow hard plastic it will probably break. This is
because its harder than soft plastic which is logic.

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Thermoplastic
When you heat thermoplastic it will become soft.
There are different kind of plastics that belong to
thermoplastic. For example bottles, crates and
Lego.
As you can see on the picture soft plastic is used
for different things. Its often used to restore food
or something to drink. But everywhere you look
you see thermoplastic. You can recognize soft
plastic by its flexibility.
Characteristics plastic:
Flammable
Almost every substance is flammable but plastic is very flammable.
Burning plastic is not good for the environment because it releases
many bad substances into the air.
High corrosion resistance
You can imagine that plastic has a high corrosion resistance.
Although plastic can decay if it contained food or water before.
Low electrical conductivity
It doesnt conduct electricity easy. This can
be an advantage but a disadvantage as
well.
Different colours ability
You can give plastic a lot of different
colours. This is a positive thing for people
like us. Different colours attract us to for example buy something.
Easy to manufacture
You see a lot of products made of plastic, this is because its easy to
make and it is not expensive. Plastic can be strong or weak, thin or
thick and that adds variety to certain products.

Latex
Natural latex comes from the tropical rubber tree
Hevea Brasiliensis in south-east Asia, parts of
Africa and South-America. Synthetic latex is
produced out of oil. Latex can be described as a mix
of rubber and plastic. On the photo you can see
latex gloves. Latex is used in clothes. You wont
often find this as litter but it is possible.

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Different waste categories
Waste can be a liquid or a solid waste. Both can be dangerous. Those
waste products can be grouped into different types. We will mention the
different types below:

Liquid type
Waste can come in a liquid form. Some solids are converted to a liquid
before it is sold. Youve for example storm water and wastewater. Other
examples are wash water from homes and liquids used for cleaning and
cleaning products.

Solid type
Solid waste is a common waste created by ourselves. Every solid
substance can been seen as a solid waste. For examples car tires, old
newspapers, broken furniture and even food can belong to this category. It
can include any waste that is non-liquid.

Hazardous type
Hazardous or harmful waste are threatening the population or the
environment. This type of waste is often inflammable, reactive, corrosive
or toxic. Examples of hazardous waste types are fire extinguishers, old
tanks, lamps and batteries.

Organic type
Organic waste comes from plants or animals. Food waste, fruit and
vegetable peels and even dog poop belongs to organic waste. Those
products are biodegradable. This means if its not cleaned it will fast be
cleaned by other organisms. Many people turn their organic waste into
compost and use it for other things.

Recyclable type
Recycling is making of old materials (waste) new materials. This reduces
the use of raw materials that otherwise would be used. Waste that can be
recycled is also called recyclable waste. Aluminium, plastics, glass and
paper fall into this category.

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Conclusion
An unclean environment leads to a unhealthy circumstances, chance of
more diseases and many more disadvantages. The amount of pollution is
increasing rapidly, caused by new technology and industries. Our
environment has to be as healthy as possible for us and for the future
generations. Water pollution and litter are the main causes so its really
important to keep everything clean. People throw litter on the ground and
not in trash bins. This causes an increase of garbage all over the place. If
this garbage isnt cleared away on time, diseases and other bad change
will involve.

Another reason why its important to keep the environment as clean as

possible is because then we would help so many poor people who live on
the streets. Think of wanderers, they live in really unhealthy conditions
because of us.

This litter that we leave behind can have an effect on biodiversity as well.
This can have big consequences for us because biodiversity provides so
many important things for us. For example food, water and air.

In short its really important to respect the nature and keep it as clean as
possible. If we wont do this it will have consequences for humanity and
we have to provide that.

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Food pyramids
1. Put the results of the practical activity in the table
Organism Numbers Energy circles Energy
accumulated 1 energy
circle: 10 KJ
Grass 16 13 130 KJ
Caterpillars 8 17 170 KJ
Common toad 4 15 150 KJ
Grass snake 2 0 0 KJ
Owl 1 6 60 KJ

2. What trends do you notice in where the energy circles are?

If you take a look at the table above you see the energy flow in the
following food chain:
Grass Caterpillars Common toad Grass snake
Owl
You can also notice that not all the energy is equally transferred to the
next stage. Some species got enough food and survived. But some
species, like the grass snake, didnt get enough food and died. But this
wont only have consequences for the grass snake but also for the owl.
The owl eats the grass snake so when they die the owl wont have
anything to eat as well and the owl will die too.

3. Does the energy transfer completely from one level to the

next?
In a food chain there is energy. This is what the organisms use to live. This
energy mainly comes from one source: photosynthesis. The plants use the
energy from the sun. The first consumers eat plants and in this way the
energy is transferred. Not all energy from the sunlight is used by the
plants. This is because a lot of sunlight shines next to the plants.
But not all energy is transferred. At each level of the food chain energy is
lost because it is use by the organism itself to breath. This means that
there cant be endless levels because then the food chain would simply
run out of energy.
In the figure below you can see that at the last level (tertiary consumers)
only 8% of all the energy is left.
So no, not all energy is transferred completely to the next level.

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 6. What are some possible explanations for why all of the energy
does not transfer to the next level?

Actually we already explained this in question 3. The reason we mentioned

there was that organisms use the energy themselves to breathe. Another
reason might be that the organism wastes energy by:

Using it as heat energy

Using it for life processes (for example: movement)
If an organism dies it wont be eaten by the next level. It will eaten
by bacteria. It will decay
7. Why are there only limited number of top predators in a field?
This question we actually also already answered in question 3. This is
because there is not enough energy for more. The energy is reduced
every layer. At the top layer there isnt much energy left. So in this layer
there is a maximum number of organisms. If there would be more the
predators in this top layer would automatically die because of the
shortage of energy.
8. Write a paragraph to summarize how energy is transferred
between organisms in an ecosystem, using examples from the
activity you just completed.
In the beginning of the lesson we all got a paper with a certain specie on
it. Grass, caterpillars, common toad, grass snake or an owl. All the grass
plants got 3 energy circels. At the end of the game we played, you see
that grass, caterpillars, common toad and the owl survived. The grass
snake didnt have any energy circles so they will die. As a consequence
the owl will die as well because grass snakes are the food of the owl. In
this way you see that not all energy is equally transferred.
In a food chain energy is produced and transferred. Energy is used by
organisms to live. The most important source is photosynthesis. Plants
use the sun to photosynthesis and to produce energy. In a food pyramid
the plants are called: primary producers. The energy that plants produce
is transferred to the next level: the primary consumers. The energy from
the primary consumers is transferred to the secondary consumers. The
energy from the secondary consumers is transferred to the tertiary
consumers and so on. This is called transferring energy.
But not all energy is transferred to the next level. Most energy is used by
the organism itself. For example for breathing. Other ways in which
energy is lost is for example by using it as heat energy, for life processes
or the organism dies before being chased and eaten by the next level.
Because the energy is reduced every level there is a maximum number of
levels.

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Adaptations
In this report we will be telling about the adaptations of 5 organisms, that
we found around the school, that they need in order to survive. An
adaptation is a way an organism's body helps it to survive, or live, in its
environment. We have chosen a few adaptations per organism because all
would be too much. The organisms that we have chosen are:
Stinging nettle
Slug
Tiger beetle
Ladybug
Earthworm
We have also made an Prezi because we also made a little movie about
the slug. We will send an email with the link to this Prezi.

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Stinging nettle
The stinging nettle has 3 adaptations we will be talking about:
Stinging hairs
Alternating leaves
Unattractive flowers
Stinging hairs
Stinging nettles contain so much food that
they have developed stinging cells to prevent
herbivores eating them. The plants contain
long, thin, hallow hairs that cover big parts of
the stem and the underside of the leaves.
These hairs contain stinging chemicals. The amount of stinging hairs
varies per region. When these hairs break off, for example by touching
them, an acid is released that, when it comes in contact with the skin,
causes a painful stinging and burning sensation.

Alternating leaves
The stinging nettles has alternating leaves.
This makes photosynthesis occur. Because
photosynthesis needs sunlight, it is
necessary that all the leaves are exposed to
the sun. This is done by an alternating
pattern and in sets of two. The leaves grow
close to the ground because the flat ground
allows more light energy to come in contact
with the leaves.

Unattractive flowers
Stinging nettles rely on the wind for
pollination. Their flowers are boring and
usually dont have a scent. They also have
small petals because it isnt necessary for
insects to have space to land the flower.
These less colorful adaptations save the
energy of the plant that can be used for
something else.

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Slug
The slug has 2 adaptations we will be talking
about:
Slime
Dark colour
Slime
One of the adaptations of a slug is that it is
covered by slime to prevent it from drying out.
But this isnt the only way the slug uses its slime.
It also protects him from predators. When a predator tries to catch the
slug, the slug will simply slip away because the slime makes him slippery.

Dark colour
The slug also has a dark colour as adaptation. This
mainly works when its dark: during the night.
Because then the slugs skin colour blends very well
with the dark. Because of this dark colour it is very
difficult for predator to detect the slug. This protects
the slug from getting eaten.

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Tiger beetle
The tiger beetle has 2 adaptations we will be
talking about:
Long legs
Mandibles
Long legs
Tiger beetles have long, thin legs that help the
to move across the ground at incredible
speeds. One specie in Australia can run so fast
that it is called the quickest insect in the
world. Often a tiger beetle runs so fast trying to catch his prey that his
eyes cant process the changing images fast enough. The tiger beetle
becomes blind for a few seconds. Then he stops and lets his brain tell his
eyes where his body is situated. Then it has to relocate its moving prey.
That means a tiny insect can escape if he doesnt move.

Mandibles
A tiger beetle also has very big mandibles (lower jawbone). With
this long, sword-like mandibles he is able to grab an
insect very quickly. Then he chews it up. The little
insects inside are sucked into the tiger beetles
mouth, leaving the hard skin parts behind. Each
specie of the tiger beetle has differently-sized
mandibles that help and eat differently-sized
insects. Tiger beetles with big mandibles can only
eat big insects. Tiger beetles with small beetles can
only eat small insects. This means that several tiger
beetles species can live together in 1 area because they wont eat each
others food. They dont have to fight and compete for food.

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Ladybug
Ladybugs have 3 adaptations we will be talking
about:
Bright spots on hard shells
Secret powerful scents
Bright spots on hard shells
One of the adaptations of the ladybug is the
hard shell with bright spots, which is called the
elytra. This shell protects the inner parts from
the ladybug. The bright spots are protection
against predator. With the bright spots they want to warn the predators
that the ladybugs are poisonous.

Secret powerful scents

Ladybugs also have secret powerful
scents. They have this scent to keep
predators away. So to protect
themselves. The ladybug is one of the
smallest organisms so they also need
all of this protection to ensure long-
term survival.

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Earthworm
The earthworm has 2 adaptations we will be
talking about:
Slime
Aestivation
Slime
Many earthworms secrete a fluid that helps
them to move more easily through the soil.
This fluid forms a cement-like substance that
prevents the walls of the burrow, that the earthworm has just made, from
collapsing. In some species it is also a defence system as it is toxic to soil
bacteria. So it also protects them against bacteria.

Aestivation
When the environmental conditions is an
earthworms habitat change, for example the
soil becomes too hot or too dry, many
earthworms become inactive. This process is
called aestivation. They move deeper into the
soil, make a ball of themselves, excrete a
protective fluid and reduce their water loss.
They will remain like this until the conditions
become normal again.

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Urban ecology
As biotope we have chosen the Strabrechtse
heather in Heeze. This heather is also
appointed as one of the Natura 2000 areas.
You probably know what a heather looks like.
A heather is a shrub land area and often
infertile soil. You can recognize it by low-
growing woody vegetation. A heathers is
often situated in warm and dry climate and
are often sandy. But it doesnt always need Strabrechtse
heat and drought. Think for example of the heath we
chose in our urban environment. We dont live in a special hot climate and
its certainly not dry in the summer but we still have heaths. Because of
the sandy soil its free-draining, this means that heaths are often very
flammable. This can have consequences for certain ecology systems and
the biodiversity because the heath is a home for a lot of species.
This also are the characteristics of the ecosystem. An ecosystem are all of
the living and non- living things in a given area, interacting with each
other.
The inhabitant plants and animals might vary between every heath. This is
because the locations, climate and soil can
differ.

The Strabrechtse heather has one single open

place called Galgenberg. Its a small piece of
land, consisted of drift-sand. This area is
protected because of its special flora and fauna.
You can find there for example spurrey, sheeps
fescue and dunt.

Of course the Strabrechtse heather has developed through Galgenbe

the years but not that much. Because its a Natura 2000 project its strictly
controlled. The first thing that had a big influence on the heather was a big
forest fire in 2010. 200 hectare was burned away. Because of this fire
certain plants and species have been lost. Animals had to search a new
home. The circumstances are better now. The nature is restoring rapidly
and that is good news for the heather. Beside the fire not that much has
developed. The stage of succession the ecosystem is in now, is okay.
Thanks to Natura 2000 things are better now.

A lot of populations are present in the Strabrechtse heather. Think of

snakes like grass snakes, certain grasses like Deschampsia flexuosa,
berries like crowberries and birds like grouses. But there are many more
species or populations living there. Too many to mention in this report. You
will find reptiles, insects, birds and mammal fauna.

We cant find enough information to answer if there life rare species in the
Strabrechtse heather. But we can conclude that there are for sure rare
species in lowland heathland. For example the Dartford warbler, woodlark

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and nightjar. Those are all rare birds. A rare
spider is also often found in lowland
heathland. The rare species is the ladybird
spider. Rare insects, such as the southern
damselfly, large marsh grasshopper and
black big ant are also present.
All the species that are found on the
heathland are forming together the biodiversity of The Southern
the Strabrechtse heather. We already discussed
these species above.

This is one example of a food chain that

can happen in heathland. The arrow
dedicates who eats what. The flower is in
this case the primary producer, the
caterpillar follows and is therefore the
primary consumer. A caterpillar is a
herbivore because caterpillars only eat
plants, no other animals The frog eats
the caterpillar so that means the frog is a
carnivore. The frog is a secondary
consumer. After that the snake eats the frog so the snake is a carnivore.
The snake is in this food chain the tertiary consumer and at last the owl
feeds himself with the snake so he is a carnivore too. He is the quaternary
consumer.

This photo also shows a food chain that

could be present in the heathland. The
grass is the primary producer. The rabbit
the primary consumer. Rabbits eat plants so
rabbits are herbivores. Finally the fox eats
the rabbit. The fox is a carnivore but sometimes he might eat
berries and other plants as well so he can belong to the omnivores too.
He is the second consumer in this food chain.

In this food chain, grass is again the

Gras Grasshop Lizar
primary producer. Grasshoppers live of
grass so they are herbivores. Grasshoppers are the primary consumer. The
lizards in the heathland eat grasshoppers so those lizards are carnivores.
But you also have other lizards whose are herbivores. Lizards are in this
food chain the second consumers.

Nuts are here the primary producers.

Nut Mous Haw
Nuts are necessary for mousses to
feed them so the primary consumer are the mousses. Mousses are
omnivores. They eat actually everything, plants and meat. Hawks are fed
by mousses therefore hawks are the second consumers. Hawks are
carnivores.

Berri
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The primary producers are the berries in this Starlin Buzza
food chain. Berries are eaten by starlings. Starlings rd
are the primary consumers in this food chain. They only eat plants which
means starlings are herbivores. Starlings can be eaten by buzzards so that
makes the buzzard the second consumer. Buzzard are for sure carnivores
like the hawks.

To start of every single specie or animal is important for us. Without them
we wouldnt have any ecosystems. But of course there are some animals
that have more effect on us than others. Caterpillars for example change
into butterflies. Butterflies pollinate flowers and suck nectar. Owls are also
very useful because they clean harmful or sick animals. Another specie
thats important to us is grass. Thanks to grass and other plants there is
oxygen in the air. We cant forget nuts and berries. There are of course
species that provide food for us, otherwise we would have nothing to eat.
Every single specie does something that we cant miss.
Every animal can have a certain disease what can be harmful for us. But
that is not the only way it can be harmful, you can imagine that if maize is
protected with certain substances that are unhealthy for your health and
another animal eats this, it will be harmful for this animal as well. If we eat
this animal later we will get infected as well. And those harmful diseases
or materials can have big consequences. You can get infected and will
become ill.
Organisms in our food web that are harmful are for example: poisonous
snakes, certain berries can be bad as well and rabbits with a certain illness
for example.

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Identifying organisms to predict water
quality
For this assignment we had to identify small organisms that live in water
to predict which water it was and where the water came from. We found
the following organisms:

Organism Amount
Water beetle 4
Nymphs of damselflies 5
Water spider 3
(fish) leech 10
Water flea 7
Amphipod 6
Fresh water isopod 8
Springtail 5
Water mite 1
Caddis larva without tube 2
Fat worm 1
Corixa 1
Caddis larva 1
Nymph glazier 2
Copepod 2
Fresh water polyp 1

During the lesson we got a paper to help us to identify the correct type of
water. When we look at the water we saw that in stagnant water and
moderately contaminated water a lot of animals live that we have found.
So our conclusion is that it is stagnant water and it comes from a ditch in
the Weerter bossen. The water is moderately contaminated.

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 Natura
2000

Mette de Haas & Floor

Stultiens
CA2G
04/07/2016

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Table of contents
Introduction
25
Main body 26
- What is ecology?
- What is an ecosystem?
- What is biodiversity?
- What are ecological networks?
- Why is the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity
important?
- What is Natura 2000?
- By who, why and how was Natura 2000 started?
- In what way is European cooperation important for Natura 2000?
- What is the effect of Natura 2000 on the conservation of
biodiversity
and ecosystem?
- What is the aim of Natura 2000 for the future?
- What is your opinion on the importance of this conservation and
the
Added value of Natura 2000?
Conclusion 31
List of sources
32

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Introduction
This report is about Natura 2000. We will discuss what Natura 2000 is and
we will explain about things that have to do with this. Enjoy!

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Main body
In this part of the report we will discuss Natura 2000 and write answers to
the questions about Natura 2000.

What is ecology?
Ecology comes from the Greek word: (pronounced as ks) which
means house or living relations and (pronounced as iel-ja)
which means study of.
Ecology is the scientific study of relationships between living organisms,
including humans, and their interaction with their physical environment.

What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystem simply means ecological systems. Ecology is the study of
ecosystems.
An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and
organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other and with their non-
living environments. For example: weather, earth, sun, soil, climate,
atmosphere.
In an ecosystem, each specie has its own role to play and each specie is
very important. If you would take one specie out of the ecosystem, a big
part of the ecosystem would collapse.
But also the other way around. If a living thing or change in the
environment such as a rise in temperature is introduced to an ecosystem it
can be disastrous to that ecosystem. This is because the new organism or
factor can disturb the natural balance of the interaction and eventually
harm or destroy the ecosystem.
Unfortunately, ecosystems have been damaged and even destroyed by
natural disasters such as fires, floods, storms and volcanic eruptions.
Human activities have also caused a harm to some ecosystems.

What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the term given to the variety of life. It
is the variety within and between all species of plants, animals and micro-
organsims and the ecosystems in which they live and interact. Identifying
and understanding the relationships between all life on the Earth is the
greatest challenge in science and biology. It can be studied on many
levels.
Highest level look at all different species on entire Earth
Much smaller scale study biodiversity within a pond ecosystem
or a neighbourhood park.
There are three kind of biodiversity:
Species biodiversity
Genetic biodiversity
Ecosystem biodiversity

Species biodiversity

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The easiest way to recognize biodiversity is by species. A specie is a group
of living organisms that can produce fertile offspring. Species diversity
refers to the variety of species within a region.

Genetic biodiversity
Genes contain the information necessary for all life on earth. They are
passed on from parents to offspring. They contain all the information for
your inherited traits (genotype). Genetic diversity refers to the variety of
genes within a species. Each species is made up of individuals that have
their own particular genetic composition. The variety of genes is
important and increases the chance of survival.

Ecosystem biodiversity
All species depend on other species for survival. Ecosystems vary in size.
A large forest or a small pond can each be described as an ecosystem.
Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of ecosystems, natural
communities and habitats in a certain place.

Biodiversity facts
researchers have estimated that there are more than 100 million
species on Earth. At the moment we have identified only 1.7 million
species!
Tropical rainforests have the most biodiversity
Most diverse group of animals are invertebrates. Invertebrates are
animals without backbones. Over half of all animals already
identified.

What are ecological networks?

Actually an ecological network represents biotic interactions between
species in an ecosystem. These networks contain nodes which are
connected by their links or edges. Nodes can refer to a lot of things, for
example to individuals, species, populations, entire communities or even
entire networks.

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Why is the conservation of the ecosystems and biodiversity
important?
The importance of biodiversity
Biodiversity is extremely important to people and the health of
ecosystems. All things we require in our lives are taken from nature. All
species (including humans) depend on nature for countless matters. Think
for example about food, water and medicines. Especially in our food
production our dependence on nature is huge and visible.
Biodiversity allows us to live happy. It provides a huge range of all different
kinds of food and materials and it contributes to our society and economy.
Without biodiversity the supermarkets would look very different.
Most medical discoveries to cure diseases were made because of research
into plant and animals biology and genetics. Every time a specie goes
extinct we will never know whether research will give us a new vaccine or
drug with the same function.
Biodiversity also allows for ecosystems to adjust to changes in the
environment like fire and flood.

The importance of ecosystems

The reasons why ecosystems are important are very similar to the reasons
of the importance of biodiversity.
Ecosystems provide countless services for humans but also for all the
other species on Earth.
Ecosystems are also important because all species depend on each other.
Take for example the food chain: Plankton Salmon
Humans
If plankton didnt exist then salmon wouldnt have anything to eat. If
salmon would go extinct its population would decrease and that means
less food for the humans. Like this you can see that any extinction or
decrease/ increase in the population from a small scale can be extremely
harmful to an ecosystem and you can see that ecosystems are very
important to the worlds population.
We have listed a few things about why ecosystems are important for our
way of living:
Food
Thanks to ecosystems we can grow food.
Raw materials
Ecosystems are very important for the production of for example fuel
and wood.
Fresh water
Ecosystems play an important role in the production of fresh drinking
water. They purify the water.
Medicines
Ecosystems provide many plants that are used in the traditional
production of medicines.

What is Natura 2000?

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Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the European Union
(28 countries). The European Union has a very varied nature, on land but
also in the sea. With nature protection areas we mean breeding and
resting sites for rare and threatened species and some species which are
protected in their own right. The network is made up of Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs). In total there are 164
protected areas in the Netherlands. 160 areas are on the land, the other 4 are
situated on the sea. So the aim of Natura 2000 is actually to ensure long-term
survival of biodiversity in Europe.
You might now expect it to be a very strict system of protected nature areas but
that is not the case. The areas arent fully separated from humans. Most of the
land is even privately owned by humans.

By who, why and how was Natura 2000 started?

The Habitatrichtlijn or the translation Habitats Directive is the directive
of the European Union. This was the start of Natura 2000 in 1979. The aim
of this directive was to protect biodiversity in Europe.
In May 1992 the governments of the European Union made a law to
protect threatened habitants and species across Europe. With this law they
wanted to protect the biodiversity in Europe. They also wanted to protect
rare and threatened species and their offspring and places to reproduce
and rest. So Natura 2000 was actually started by establishing the Habitats
Directive to protect the biodiversity in the European Union.

How does Natura 2000 work?

First of all a country announces an area with the European Union. Sites of
the Natura 2000 are selected by state members of the European Union.
The SPAs are chosen by each EU member state. The SACs are more
complicated: each EU Member State has to create a list of the best wildlife
areas containing the habitats and species listed in the Habitats Directive.
This list must then be proposed to the European Union. In order to become
a Natura 2000 site, an evaluation and selection process will follow. If the
area is chosen to be a Natura 2000-area a management will follow within 3
years. This management is valid for 6 years. After those 6 years there has
to follow a new management or changes have to take place.

What is the role of the Netherlands in Natura 2000?

The Netherlands has in total 164 areas that belong to the Dutch part of the
Natura 2000 network. Together the areas have an area of around 1.1
million hectare. Around 69% is water, what is left (31%) is land. The Dutch
Natura 2000-areas take up around 7% of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands plays an important role in the European decisions about
Natura 2000. We, the Netherlands, want to follow those decisions. We do
this by pointing out the most unique and/or harmful areas as Natura
2000-areas. Other countries do exactly the same thing so the Netherlands
doesnt have a specific task in this part. Thanks to that there now exists a
network of Natura 2000-areas. France is the country with the most Natura
2000-areas, it consists out of 1746 areas. So the Netherlands is for sure
not the country with the most areas.

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On the 19th of May 2003 there were 141 areas announced as an special
conservation in the Netherlands. Besides Natura 2000, we know in the
Netherlands the Ecologische Hoofdstructuur (EHS). This is also a network
of conservations. Around 45% of these EHS-hectares are Natura 2000-
areas as well. In short, the Netherlands doesnt have a specific task in the
Natura 2000. Although we take important decisions and we follow the
rules, we do the same things as the other countries in the Natura 2000
cooperation.

In what way is European cooperation important for Natura

2000?
European cooperation plays an important role in Natura 2000 because
Natura 2000 wants to protect certain areas throughout Europe. You cant
improve that with only one country. You cant improve that with two
countries. You have to improve the nature with all the countries of the
European Union. If the countries cant work together, every single country
would have to think for themselves. Its much easier if you can share your
ideas and improvements. Then you can learn from each other and you can
improve areas faster and easier. We think that the European cooperation is
a very important key to the success of Natura 2000. If you have a good
cooperation between your countries the countries can help each other
when something bad happens. For example, a flood or a forest fire. If
something like that happens, other countries can help to rebuilt the nature
as good as possible.

What is the effect of Natura 2000 on the conservation of

biodiversity and ecosystems?

Natura 2000 is very important for the biodiversity and ecosystems in

Europe. By making SPAs and SACs a lot of threatened species are being
saved. If this wouldnt be the case a lot of species would go extinct and it
would cause a harm to the ecosystems. Because those areas are being
protected all species and habitants can reproduce and rest at the
moments they want and arent disturbed by humans all the time. Most
people probably dont realize how harmful it is when a specie goes extinct.
It isnt only that specie which goes extinct. All species eat each other and
thats why other species would have less food or no food at all if a specie
goes extinct. Finally the specie without food might go extinct as well.

What is the aim of Natura 2000 for the future?

One of the important aims for the future is the improvement of habit types
which are really bad. Habitat types are all living things. For example tigers
or horses but also areas like the dunes. This is a task where mainly the

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Netherlands has to take care of. An example are bare grass places. The
quality of those grass places and the hugeness of these surfaces has
strongly decreased which means that the Netherlands has to do something
to improve this. They could for example make the surface bigger and/or
the quality better.
Finally there will be a key change to get a more strategic focus. Thanks to
a new programme that will be introduced by the commission and the
member states. It will show the aims and criteria for the projects. Those
work programmes will be refreshed every two years. This programme is
called LIFE.
Other aims:
To get practically and financially more flexibility
Work in harmony
Do what can reasonably be expected
Take account of existing budgets
Maintain and, where necessary, improve
Do something against climate changes

What is your opinion on the importance of this conservation and

the added value of Natura 2000?
We think it's very important to keep the nature for what it is. Natura 2000
makes this possible. We think it's important to keep doing this otherwise
we will lose important areas and species. A lot changes are made through
the years. More man-made buildings are made and in some countries
there are nearly no natural landscapes left. That's why Natura 2000 is very
valuable. Another reason is that we might lose important species if we lose
big areas. More and more species become extinct and this will increase if
Natura 2000 stops with doing their good job. We, as humans, are
destroying our world but at the same time we are trying to improve our
lifestyle by protecting nature. Without nature the world would be bare and
ugly. We have to keep the nature alive.

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Conclusion
To start off we learned a lot about Natura 2000 and about all things that
have to do with it. But we also came to the conclusion that it was a lot of
work. We worked hours on this report, so we are really glad with the result.
Some questions were very difficult to answer and find information about.
To some questions we also found a lot of different answers. Then it was
hard to predict which one was the correct one but we think we did very
well. Thank you for reading our report. We hoped that you enjoyed it.

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List of sources
http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-a-foodchain.html

http://ecologia.ib.usp.br/guimaraes/papers/hagen.pdf

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_network

http://www.somerset.gov.uk/policies-and-plans/policies/ecological-networks/

http://www.sicirec.org/definitions/corridors

http://nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Biodiversity.aspx

http://www.cfare.org/UserFiles/file/publications/2007ABCNature.pdf

https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080525051015AA2ulPQ

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natura_2000

http://www.groeneruimte.nl/dossiers/natura2000/home.html

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/info/pubs/docs/nat2000newsl/nat31_en.pdf

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Evaluation
To start off we have to say this project we learned a lot from this project.
We now know a lot more about ecology systems, waste, Natura 2000,
adaptions etc. But we also noticed that it was actually a too big project for
this few weeks. We started immediately when we got the first assignment
but still we had to less time. Mainly Natura 2000 and urban ecology costed
us a lot of time. This causes a shortage of time for other subjects. So we
are really relieved that its over now. The cooperation between us was
really good. We made clear decisions and planned very well. We gave each
other tasks and work as properly as possible. We are really happy with the
result of our reports and are proud about how it looks. Although it cost a
lot of time, we think the result is perfect.

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