Point Cartwright Essay

Queensland coastal dunes are an integral part of coastal environment and ecosystems. Queensland beaches are known for a number of its natural icons and prominent features and are widely recognized and appreciated for their breath taking scenery, significant biodiversity, recreation experiences and generation of economic benefits from tourism. With the influx of human influence with beachfront development, mowing and topsoiling dunes, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, weeds and feral animals disturbing the native ecological communities, leads to the destruction of delicate sand dunes creating more damaging problems such as erosion. (reference)

Point cartwright is located on the coast of south east Queensland and stretches 100m. It has a diverse environments such as sand

They act as a shield against wave damage throughout storms, protecting the land behind from salt water intrusion. This sand barrier allows the growth of more complex plant communities in areas protected from salt water inundation, sea spray and strong winds. Communities of plants that grow on beaches and dunes are known as dune vegetation.

The ecology of these ecosystems plays a key role in mediating many of the functions of dunes, including their growth and stabilization. Similarly, the physical environment of this unique habitat strongly shapes the ecology of the organisms living there.

- explain abiotic changes that happen along a gradient and how do species change as a result.

Zonation is the categorization of biomes into zones based on their distribution or arrangement in a habitat as determined by environmental factors, e.g. altitude, latitude, temperature, other biotic factors, etc. (Collins English Dictionary, n.d.). There are three main zones of dune vegetation that are arranged roughly parallel to the coastline. Closest to the sea is the pioneer zone, extending landward from the debris line at the top of the beach in an area called the foredune or frontal dune as seen in