Y9 Geography - Avington park lake

Biotic components

Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, decomposers

Abiotic components

Water, sunlight, soil/sediment, climate

Producers

Algae, reeds, water plants

Primary consumers

Insects, tadpoles, snails

Secondary consumers

small fish, frogs

Tertiary consumers

Herons, pike

Decomposers

Bacteria, fungi

What does silt do

Create acidic conditions reducing water quality + causes lake to be shallow

Too much vegetation

Reduces oxygen supply (including decomposing leaves), suffocating the ecosystem

Restoration

Desilting the lake and adding new waterside habitats to attract birds/waterfowl

Impact of farming (fertilised runoff)

Fertilisers from near farms wash into the lake → algal blooms → blocked sunlight, plants die → less oxygen and less food source. Decomposed algae becomes fine silt

Impact of farming (soil erosion)

Soil washes into the lake → makes water cloudy, less sunlight → plants die, reducing oxygen and food source. Soil becomes silt

Negative human impacts

Farming, fishing, draining

Plants stabilise banks

Stabilisation (holding soil together) → less soil/less silt

Reduced soil erosion

Vegetation acts like a barrier → soil can’t enter the pond

Improved water quality

Vegetation acts like a barrier → no eutrophication

Biodiversity increases across the whole ecosystem

Vegetation creates habitats → more insects → more food for fish,

Natural bad impacts

Drought, heavy rainfall (silt), disease