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Unit 3: Responding to land cover transformations

11 dot points, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

What are the major types of land cover and how are they distributed across the globe?

Identify and describe the major types of land cover and the global and regional spatial patterns of their distribution

Major types of land cover and their global and regional spatial patterns. Covers forest, grassland, cropland, desert, ice, wetland and built-up cover, the land cover versus land use distinction, and how patterns are mapped, with Australian and global examples.

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How is remotely sensed data used to identify spatial patterns of land cover change?

Recognise and interpret spatial patterns of land cover change at different scales using remotely sensed data

Using remotely sensed data to identify spatial patterns of land cover change. Covers satellite imagery, change detection, vegetation indices and scale, with Australian and global cases including Landsat monitoring of Queensland clearing and the Amazon.

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How does changing land cover alter the surface energy balance and local climate?

Explain how land cover transformation changes the surface energy balance through albedo, evapotranspiration and heat exchange

How land cover transformation changes the surface energy balance. Covers albedo, evapotranspiration, sensible and latent heat, the urban heat island and deforestation, with Australian and global cases including Western Sydney and the Amazon.

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What natural and anthropogenic processes drive land cover change at local and global scales?

Explain the natural and anthropogenic processes that contribute to land cover change, including deforestation, agriculture, urbanisation, mining and natural events

Natural and anthropogenic processes driving land cover change. Covers deforestation, agricultural expansion, urbanisation, mining and natural events, with Australian and global cases including the Amazon, Queensland clearing and the Murray-Darling.

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How does land cover change move carbon between the land, the atmosphere and the oceans?

Explain how land cover and its transformation function within the global carbon cycle as stores, sinks and sources of carbon

How land cover functions in the global carbon cycle. Covers carbon stores and fluxes, forests and soils as sinks, deforestation and peatland drainage as sources, blue carbon, and Australian and global cases including the Amazon and Queensland clearing.

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How do feedback loops amplify or dampen the climate effects of land cover change?

Explain positive and negative feedback loops linking land cover change, the climate system and tipping points

Positive and negative feedback loops linking land cover and climate. Covers the ice-albedo feedback, permafrost carbon, forest dieback and tipping points, with Australian and global cases including the Arctic and the Amazon.

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How are spatial technologies used to represent and analyse fieldwork data on land cover change?

Use spatial technologies and cartographic and graphic representations to organise, represent and analyse land cover data

Using spatial technologies to represent and analyse land cover data. Covers GIS, layers and overlays, choropleth and proportional maps, graphs and the data-to-pattern chain for the IA2 field report.

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How does land cover transformation affect biodiversity and ecosystem function?

Analyse the impacts of land cover change on biodiversity and ecosystem services, including habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation

How land cover transformation affects biodiversity and ecosystem services. Covers habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation and ecosystem services, with cases including the Great Barrier Reef catchment, koala habitat and the brigalow belt.

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How does land cover change contribute to and respond to climate change?

Analyse the relationship between land cover change and climate change, including carbon, albedo and the enhanced greenhouse effect

Two-way relationship between land cover change and climate change. Covers the carbon cycle, albedo, evapotranspiration and the enhanced greenhouse effect, with cases including the Amazon, Arctic permafrost and Australian savanna burning.

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How do you use the geographic inquiry model and fieldwork to investigate a local land cover transformation?

Plan and conduct a fieldwork investigation of a local land cover transformation using the geographic inquiry model and primary data collection

Planning fieldwork using the geographic inquiry model. Covers framing a question, primary and secondary data, transects, quadrats, surveys and sampling, with Queensland field examples for the IA2 field report.

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How can land cover transformations be managed to improve sustainability at a local scale?

Propose and evaluate responses to local land cover transformation, including fieldwork, spatial technologies and management strategies

Responding to local land cover transformation through fieldwork, spatial technologies and management strategies. Covers primary data collection, GIS, revegetation, regulation and the field report task, with Australian local-scale cases.

6 min read →