Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part A. MangroveWatch purpose, validity and data sets
20 minutes	Part B. Shoreline Video Assessment Method(S-VAM)
20 minutes	Part C. Shoreline Mangrove Cover
20 minutes	Part D. Mangrove Density
20 minutes	Part E. Mangrove Stand Maturity
20 minutes	Part F. Mangrove Condition
20 minutes	Part G. Salt Marsh Threats
20 minutes	Part H. Salt Marsh Values
20 minutes	Reflection

Part A. MangroveWatch purpose, validity and data sets

Step 1.

Differentiation:

Where students have completed the previous lessons: begin by inviting students to share what they already know about the MangroveWatch program and invite them to share what they looked at in these lessons. Remind them that mangroves are indicators of environmental impact and the health of waterways. By collecting baseline data on the health of mangroves including the Great Barrier Reef, scientists and community MangroveWatchers can monitor the ecosystem over time. The analysis of MangroveWatch data by scientists will inform mangrove management of how to best protect estuaries and tidal wetlands from development and impacts of climate change. For additional information see the benefits of MangroveWatch.
Where students haven’t completed the previous lessons: ask students if they have heard of the MangroveWatch program, and to suggest what they think this program might be about. MangroveWatch is a citizen science program that provides tools, methods and training to assist the community in helping scientists gather data on the extent and health of Australia’s mangroves and salt marshes, known collectively as tidal wetlands. Explain to them that mangroves are indicators of environmental impact and the health of waterways. By collecting baseline data on the health of mangroves including the Great Barrier Reef scientists and community MangroveWatchers can monitor the ecosystem over time. The analysis of MangroveWatch data by scientists will inform mangrove management in order to protect estuaries and tidal wetlands from development and impacts of climate change. For additional information see the benefits of MangroveWatch.

Step 2.

Participants in the MangroveWatch program are required to consider MangroveWatch mission statements. These include the following points (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Is scientifically valid
Engage and empowers local people
Promotes effective coastal resource management
Provides a visual baseline from which to assess future change

Students can now either work in groups or as a class to discuss why each of these mission statements is important. Record student ideas on the board, and use the suggested answers below to guide assessment or discussion:

Is scientifically valid
(Suggested answer: No objective decision-making is required by community participants as all imagery is assessed remotely by mangrove experts. Video data enables data quality control. The GPS track ensures repeatability. Video image assessment is backed up by ground-truthing and accuracy assessments.)
Engages and empowers local people
(Suggested answer: Local people provide locally relevant information that enhances scientific assessment and provides local context to shoreline habitat assessment. Local observations of change, historical information and knowledge of local values are highly valuable insights. When local communities are informed they are empowered. By working with scientists, local people can gain more information on the value of their local mangroves and the issues that affect them, empowering them to take action at the local scale.)
Promotes effective coastal resource management
(Suggested answer: A continuous collection of geo-tagged shoreline images allows for the quantification of data across entire estuaries, rather than from a collection of random points along the bank or within the forest. This allows shoreline habitat features and processes to be seen within the context of the whole system that better informs estuary and coastal management. Partnering scientists with local people greatly improves our understanding of shoreline habitats and is one of the major advantages of the MangroveWatch approach.)
Provides a visual baseline from which to assess future change
(Suggested answer: Video imagery data provides a permanent visual record from which to assess future change and overcomes the shifting baseline of environmental perception. Our intention in the near future is to make all video image data available via the MangroveWatch website.)

Step 3.

Now explain that when conducting an assessment of a mangrove or salt marsh ecosystem you need to gather data about your study site and analyse this data; analysing the data will provide you with insight into your specific location. Your methods for collecting data will vary according to the information you want to know about your site and the types of data you want to collect.

As part of their work, MangroveWatch collects and collates data from citizen scientists around Australia, and then analyses this data to get a picture of what is happening in these ecosystems around Australia.

Explain to students that in this lesson they will be looking at how data from salt marsh ecosystems in Queensland can help us understand the health of the Great Barrier Reef. The report they will be working from contains a range of data sets collected by citizen scientists working in the Mooloolah River region in Queensland. This information tells MangroveWatch researchers what is happening with the mangrove and salt marsh habitats in the area and helps them to make assessments about how mangrove and salt marsh health is related to the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

Distribute the following document electronically to students:

Mooloolah MangroveWatch Report table (pages 5 - 7)

Explain to students that this document describes some of the measures used to assess the health of mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems. Invite them to work independently or in pairs to find out what the following mean in terms of what they measure. Also ask students to tell us about the assessment site (also available on the Student Worksheet). Suggested answers provided below to guide assessment or discussion):

Forest presence
(Suggested answer: Measured as percentage cover of mangroves as a proportion of total shoreline)
Mangrove density
(Suggested answer: Tells us the density of mangrove stands along the shoreline)
Mangrove stand maturity
(Suggested answer: The maximum estimated age class of mangroves along the shoreline as determined from expert visual assessment)
Mangrove condition
(Suggested answer: The condition of mangroves determined by things like canopy retreat, exposed branches and twigs (dieback), dead trees and fallen trees)
Key threatening processes to salt marsh habitats
(Suggested answer: Tells us what types of things are threatening the health of mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems, including:
- Direct human impacts - vehicle damage, cattle damage, human trampling, mowing, burning, habitat replacement ‐ infilling/landfill, urban and agricultural encroachment, dumping ‐ trash/litter/debris/garden waste
- Indirect human impact - altered hydrology (tidal flows), altered hydrology (freshwater flows), chemical pollution (herbicide e.g. spray drift), chemical pollution (e.g. oil spill, industrial runoff), agricultural runoff (sediment and nutrients)
- Urban runoff – stormwater, sewage, weeds, coastal squeeze (adjacent barriers to upland migration)
- Not obviously related human threats - shoreline erosion, surface erosion and scouring, sediment burial (e.g. flood deposits), drought
- Sea-level rise impacts - mangrove encroachment, buffer zone retreat (e.g. Casuarina dieoff)
Values of salt marsh habitats
(Suggested answer: Tells us some of the ways that mangroves and salt marshes are of value, including fish habitat values, blue carbon storage, water quality improvement values, general habitat values, recreation value, cultural heritage value

Step 4.

Once complete, allow time for students to share their answers, ensuring they understand some of the different data sets presented in this report. Use the suggested answers above to guide your discussion and make any necessary clarifications.

Part B. Shoreline video assessment method (S-VAM)

Step 1.

Explain to students that citizen scientists participating in the MangroveWatch program send their shoreline video and GPS data to MangroveWatch Science Hub for assessment. This assessment includes mangrove forest presence and biomass.

Step 2.

Students work independently or in pairs to calculate the Mangrove Forest Presence and Biomass.

For students who have already undertaken MangroveWatch fieldwork - students can use the SVAM Own Data Worksheet and their own data sent back from the MangroveWatch Science Hub. They will continue to use their own data for the rest of the activities in this lesson.
For students who have not undertaken MangroveWatch fieldwork - students can use the SVAM Samoa Data Worksheet and the MangroveWatch Science Hub data from this report: Samoa MangroveWatch Report. Explain to students that Samoa has mangrove and salt marsh habitats and coral reefs; assessing the health of these ecosystems and their relationships can help us understand what is happening with the Great Barrier Reef.

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to explain whether the biomass scores represent either quantitative or qualitative data.

Students can then share their answers with the class/another pair of students and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part C. Shoreline Mangrove Cover

Preparation for Parts C to H:

Students will now be analysing data from either their own data sent back from the MangroveWatch Science Hub or use the following data collected during a MangroveWatch SVAM survey of the Mooloolah River (QLD): Mooloolah SVAM Data. Note: This spreadsheet contains links to images of each site included in the survey, however, as students are working from the numerical data, they can complete the tasks in this activity without viewing any images. If you would like to share some of the images with students to give them an idea of the types of images collected and used to generate the numerical data, a selection of the images has been compiled here. If you would like to access all the images, you can download the data from this Dropbox file (WARNING: this is a very large file to download [845.4 MB]).
Electronically distribute one copy of this Excel worksheet (Data Analysis Sheets) to each student or group. This worksheet has all the questions and activities students need to complete Parts C to H.
Answers for those using the provided data set can be found in this report: Mooloolah MangroveWatch Report
Students can work in groups or independently to analyse the data.

Step 1.

Explain to students that data sent to MangroveWatch can also be used to determine the scale and range of mangrove cover in the area they are assessing.

Students can now work independently or in pairs to calculate the mangrove cover score by completing the tasks under the Mangrove Cover Score tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of their area.
Transfer the shoreline mangrove cover data into a data table to create a histogram. On the left of the map students are prompted in describing patterns, trends and relationships.
Calculate the average to determine the mangrove cover score.
Describe the pattern of shoreline mangrove cover.
Explain the relationship between shoreline mangrove cover and human developments.
Identify some of the effects of less mangrove cover.

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part D. Mangrove Density

Step 1.

Explain to students that data sent to MangroveWatch can also be used to determine the mangrove density of the region they are assessing (the density of mangrove stands along the shoreline).

Students can now work independently or in pairs to calculate the mangrove cover score by completing the tasks under the Mangrove Density tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of your area.
Transfer the shoreline mangrove density data into the data table and create a histogram.
Calculate the average to determine the mangrove density score.
Describe the pattern of shoreline mangrove density.
Explain the relationship between shoreline mangrove density and human developments.
Identify some of the effects of lower mangrove density.

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part E. Mangrove Stand Maturity

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work independently or in the same pairs to calculate the mangrove stand maturity (the maximum estimated age class of mangroves along the shoreline) in the area they are assessing.

Students can now work independently or in pairs to calculate the mangrove cover score by completing the tasks under the Mangrove Stand Maturity tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of their area.
Transfer the shoreline mangrove stand maturity data into the data table and create a histogram.
Calculate the average to determine the mangrove stand maturity.
Describe the pattern of mangrove stand maturity.
Explain the relationship between mangrove stand maturity and human developments.
Identify some of the effects of mangrove stand maturity

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part F. Mangrove Condition

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work independently or in the same pairs to calculate the mangrove condition score (the condition of mangroves determined by things like canopy retreat, exposed branches and twigs (dieback), dead trees and fallen trees) of the area they are assessing.

Students can now work independently or in pairs to calculate the mangrove cover score by completing the tasks under the Mangrove Stand Maturity tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of your area.
Transfer the shoreline mangrove condition data and create a histogram.
Calculate the average to determine the mangrove condition score.
Describe the pattern of shoreline mangrove condition.
Explain the relationship between mangrove condition and human developments.
Identify some of the causes and effects of mangrove condition.

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part G. Salt Marsh Threats

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will work independently or in pairs to calculate the overall rankings of the threats to salt marshes by working through the tasks on the Salt Marsh Threats tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of their area.
Calculate the overall ranking for each salt marsh habitat threat across all sites.
Describe the pattern of threats to the salt marsh in their area.
Describe the relationship between threats to the salt marsh and human activities.
Explain the effects of key threatening processes upon salt marshes.
Suggest an action/s to help protect and/or improve the salt marsh.

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Part H. Salt Marsh Values

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will work independently or in pairs to calculate the overall rankings of the threats to salt marsh by working through the tasks on the Salt Marsh Values tab of their worksheet.

By following the instructions on their worksheet, students will:

Embed a map of their area.
Calculate the overall ranking for each salt marsh habitat value across all sites.
Consider traditional owner comments about the sites (where relevant).
Describe the pattern of salt marsh values in their area.
Describe the relationship between values of salt marsh and human activities.
Determine the three most significant traditional owner values of salt marsh for their area (where relevant).
Suggest conservation actions to improve and protect the habitat value and cultural value of salt marsh habitats

Step 2.

Once complete, encourage students to share their answers with the class/another pair and make any adjustments to their responses before moving onto the next task.

Reflection

Step 1.

Engage students in a class discussion around the results of their analyses.

Step 2.

Invite students to suggest and justify which points they identified they think are most important to creating a plan for managing the salt marsh they assessed. This could be done through class discussion or in writing with students working independently or in pairs.

Step 3.

Invite students to prepare a response to the following question:

Based on your data analysis, how might the health of the mangroves you observed impact nearby reef ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef? Explain your answer.

Extension

Students requiring extension could describe the limitations of their research and suggest further research to improve the reliability and validity of evidence about the value and health of:

salt marsh and the associated vegetation and;
mangrove forests.

MangroveWatch - Processing, Analysing and Evaluating Data

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