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Marine Botanists

Reef Quest

botanist
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority botanist analysing plant material.


As an expert in the field of marine botany (the study of plants that live in the sea) your major role is to provide your team with the botanical information they need to compete the task. You will be called upon to document your research in your journal and present your finds as part of the team's oral presentation.


Research Questions:

  1. Outline the different types of plants that live around a coral reef. You are to Identify, visually represent and research four different coral reef plants.
    The following key questions need to be answered about each plant:
    1. Identify the criteria you would use to classify each plant into a group?
      Hint: What are the main characteristics of each plant?
    2. Where are these plants usually found?
  2. Describe the environmental conditions that that are required for these plants to grow.
  3. Outline the major functions of the plants you have researched, and evaluate the importance of each plant to the reef ecosystem.
  4. What might happen if any one of these plants was to become extinct? Select one plant and draw a futures wheel that shows the flow-on results of the plant becoming extinct. Hint: Futures wheels can have many flow-on results they are only restricted by your imagination.

The following sites may be of some assistance: (More links coming soon)