City Botanic Gardens – Pond and Mangroves EcosystemThe City Botanic Gardens are known to be one of the most important, non-indigenous landmarks in Queensland. The City Gardens are placed on a land that stretches out about 42 acres, and are made up of man-made ecosystems including the pond and the rainforest. These two ecosystems have many similarities and differences on an ecological level. Although these ecosystems are man-made they still provide shelter and food for many organisms.
The pond ecosystem in the Botanic Gardens has many biotic factors. It is situated near the exit of the rainforest and is surrounded by many plant organisms such as lomandra and bamboo. The pond is also shadowed by two trees; the Bald Cypress and Red Lion Bark. Many plant organisms are also found within the pond such as duck weed, algae and water lilies. These plants provide food for the heterotrophs (organisms that eat other organisms) that occupy the area such as dragonflies, dusky moorhens, noisy miners and ducks. Other aquatic insects must inhabit the pond but none were able to be identified from the points of observation. In this ecosystem the number of autotrophs (organisms that are able to create their own food) highly outweigh the number of heterotrophs, although this could be affected by the season and time of day the pond was observed.
The Botanic Gardens is currently under a public and private initiative for a public and private pond. This project will facilitate the development of the ecosystem through a collaborative and long term project for the ecological management of the pond. It provides the opportunity for the private and the public to enjoy a sense of environmental and recreational benefits during their own environment. It will allow for the establishment of a vibrant and sustainable aquatic community.
The Conservancy of Botanic Gardens’ project provides access to local, scientific, cultural and educational activities by offering water-based swimming pools and a community garden, which will be located in a community of 3.5 acres with a 2.5 acre, woody setting: the pond will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The pool will have a pool surface of 15 feet per hour and it will be a free swimming area with a swimming area for 4 or more. The pool will be designed to be accessed from the outside. Each year the Conservancy receives $1.3 million for the renovation and a complete project review which will include design and architecture work.
The Conservancy has invested $1.3 million on renovations, the first on site since 1991. The renovation will include the removal of the grassy garden and landscaping, additional floor plans, landscaped pools and indoor/outdoor plumbing, as well as exterior landscaping and electrical, plumbing, power generation, and electrical control of the ponds. As of July 2017, there were 23 pools constructed for the Conservancy. Of the 7 pools for the Conservancy, 3 are not available. The Conservancy has no available access to any public swimming pool or water pool. These are among the most difficult areas of landscaping and will not have access that is provided to other conservation groups (mainly water-based and wood water groups), the National Park Service, and other natural areas.
The Conservancy currently maintains a 10 year plan but is currently exploring different options for the future. It is seeking out future public and private conservation and economic development opportunities for the conservancy.
While you are here …
1. We encourage you to bring your lawn mower; we urge you to use it in the rain forest area and to add the following equipment or plants to your lawn mower:
Wings:
One size and color nylon spade (for the lawn mulch);
Nylon twine spade;
Whip;
Stainless steel stanchion/seawalls;
Plum mica;
A 1.5 gallon can of distilled water from any of the following sources:
Cedarwood, Cedar Springs, or any natural color.
Hint: It really does need to do an initial clean up after the first three weeks. We don’t want it to be messy or messy. Once it is clean and wet, it can be recycled to other uses using an alternative filtration system and/or a compostable, composting compost.
Note: If you are not sure how much lawn mower use you should be providing, we suggest changing the
The rainforest ecosystem, on the other hand, consisted of an equal amount of animals and plants. This ecosystem ran parallel to the mangrove ecosystem that can also be found in the Botanic Gardens. Many Hoop Pine trees lined the walkway while the Golden Cane Palm and the Silver Date Palm trees were far more spread out and werent in any particular order but were spread randomly. The Devils Ivy lined the grounds near the roots of the other trees. There were a few macadamia trees that stretched out over the rest of the trees. All the trees in the rainforest area stretched high above the ground and created a canopy over the other surroundings. Not much light penetrates the canopy and in consequence the ground remained slightly damp. Many insects such as ants, flies, spiders and mosquitoes are found in this ecosystem and they are eaten by the larger animals such as the ibises.
Both of the ecosystems in the Botanic gardens receive sunlight. Sunlight is the main food source of any ecosystem and without the sunlight, ecosystems wouldnt exist. Most producers use the energy from the sunlight to turn air into glucose. This process is called photosynthesis. Both the pond