#bcteco

I was assigned the practical role for this assignment, which meant I had to actively do things to generate new understanding of our topic, ecosystems. I started by looking into the visible ecosystems around us such as Auckland City and my home garden. Both of these offered insight into what different things make up an ecosystem, and how they interact with each other. For example, looking into our urban ecosystem of Auckland City, I could see how the people and animals inhabiting the area interact with the non-living environment such as buildings/structures. Similar results were seen in my own garden, where evidence of life is obvious. I also looked into computer games based around building and living in your own ecosystem, Minecraft in particular. Playing this for a short period of time gave me a big enough look into how the game portrays different types of ecosystems, such as forests and marine. I think it could be quite educational for a younger audience as well as enjoyable, to see how people can personally interact with a virtual ecosystem and manipulate it to see different results.

For my practical approach, I would have liked to make my own little ecosystem and see how the living organisms interact with the non-living but I unfortunately ran out of time. Instead, I decided to look into my surrounding ecosystems such as my home garden. Gardens are part of an ecosystem as the plants attract insects such as bees, bugs, and worms. These may then attract larger predators such as birds and a cycle is created, much like a food chain. 

In my own garden, I have numerous plants and food growing. They have been living in their own ecosystem for months, interacting with the environment around them. I took a look at some parsley plants we have and noticed the other living things around them. When watered, exposed to sunlight, and tended to, new things emerge from the soil. I saw some leaves had small nibble marks on them, evidence of plant-eating creatures. Worms also pass through the soil underneath, increasing the amount of air and water that gets into it. They also leave behind a type of fertiliser and help keep the plants alive. I also saw a few bees taking interest in the flowers around the garden, another living thing interacting with the ecosystem. The sunlight, air, water, soil, climate, all contribute to this ecosystem, and it was quite interesting to see how different parts have different effects. I feel I could have understood ecosystems a bit more if I had created one from scratch, but even just taking a look at an existing one so close to me was very insightful.

“Minecraft is a sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, resource gathering, crafting, and combat.”

When thinking about how I could practically approach our ecosystem topic to generate new understanding, I instantly thought of the game Minecraft as the whole game is based around creating your own ecosystem through the use of building blocks. I decided to play around on it myself to see what I could find out. Minecraft has different biomes which all contain different types of plants, animals, and blocks. This is very similar to having different ecosystems. For example, the rivers naturally spawn squids (one of the only water animals in the game), as well as containing different types of blocks and plants around it (gravel, soil, clay, lily pads, sugar cane, tall grass). The sea creatures are interacting with the marine environment around them, just as a real life ecosystem would. 

There are also other features to the game, such as growing your own plants and food; the living interacting with the non-living. You can build structures and experiment with creation while living in your own little ecosystem.

References 

Information releases

In addition to the national projections, Statistics New Zealand produces population projections for various subnational areas. The latest projections of the population living in subnational areas was released in February 2015 and covers the 16 regional council areas, 67 territorial authority areas, and 21 Auckland local board areas of New Zealand (boundaries at 1 January 2014). Three alternative projections (designated low, medium and high) have been produced for each area using different fertility, mortality, and migration assumptions reflecting each area's unique socio-demographic characteristics. The following results are based on the medium projection.

Of New Zealand's 67 territorial authority areas, 51 are projected to have more people in 2028 than in 2013, and 41 are projected to have more people in 2043 than in 2013 (medium projection). The highest projected population growth rates over the 30-year period (2013–43) are for Selwyn district (an average annual increase of 2.2 percent) and Queenstown-Lakes district (1.8 percent). Auckland and Waimakariri district (both 1.3 percent), Tauranga and Hamilton cities (both 1.2 percent), and Waikato district (1.1 percent) are the next highest. Under the medium projection, the largest percentage decreases in population between 2013 and 2043 are projected for the districts of Kawerau (down an average of 1.7 percent a year), Ruapehu (1.4 percent), Opotiki (1.1 percent), Wairoa (0.9 percent), and Waitomo (0.8 percent). The decreases in these five areas reflect shrinking natural increase and continuing net migration outflows, although these outflows are assumed to be smaller than experienced historically.

The projected slower population growth across New Zealand is driven by the narrowing gap between births and deaths. Nationally, natural increase is projected to decrease from 164,000 during 2009–13 to 80,000 during 2039–43 (medium projection). At the regional level, Auckland and Canterbury are the only regions that will have more births in 2039–43 than in 2009–13. All 16 regions will experience more deaths. In 55 of the 67 territorial authority areas, the number of births is expected to drop between the period 2009–13 and the period 2039–43 due to the assumed slightly lower fertility rates (average number of births per woman), combined in many areas with a decline in the number of women in the childbearing ages. In contrast, the number of deaths is expected to increase in all areas, despite continued increases in life expectancy. This is because of the increasing number of people reaching older ages. About 4 deaths in 5 currently occur at ages 65 years and over. The proportion of New Zealand's population aged 65 years and over is projected to increase from 14 percent in 2013 to 24 percent in 2043.

The Auckland region is projected to account for three-fifths of New Zealand's population growth between 2013 and 2043, with an increase of 740,000 from just under 1.5 million to 2.2 million (medium projection). Auckland's population is estimated to have surpassed 1.5 million in the year ended June 2014, and is projected to reach 2 million around 2033. In 2028, Auckland would be home to 37 percent of New Zealand's population, compared with 34 percent in 2013. By 2043, the population of Auckland could make up 40 percent of New Zealand's population.

The population of all territorial authority areas is expected to age in future, both in number and percentage of people at older ages. However, there will be considerable variation between areas, largely because of each area's current population age structure, and different fertility and migration patterns. At the national level, the median age (half the population is younger, and half older, than this age) is projected to increase from 37 years in 2013 to 43 years in 2043. At the subnational level in 2013, the median age ranged from 32 years in Hamilton city to 51 years in Thames-Coromandel district. By 2043, the median age is projected to range from 37 years in Palmerston North city to 60 years in Thames-Coromandel district. A median age of 50 years or older is projected for 15 territorial authority areas in 2043: Kaipara, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Opotiki, Central Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua, Kapiti Coast, Carterton, South Wairarapa, Tasman, Marlborough, Kaikoura, Waimate, and Central Otago districts, and Nelson city. The oldest median ages are generally in areas experiencing low fertility and/or a net outflow of young adults (aged 15–29 years) and a net inflow of people aged 35–74 years. The youngest median ages are generally in areas experiencing high fertility and/or a net inflow of young adults (such as cities with major tertiary education facilities).

I have been assigned the practical role, which means I will actively be doing things to generate new understanding of ecosystems. A few days ago I looked into the different types of ecosystems and what they may contain. It gave me an idea of just how many ecosystems there are and how involved we are with them. To properly start my research to generate understanding, I will go out and take photographs/videos of any ecosystems I come across. This could include aquatic ecosystems such as the ocean, coral reefs, and ponds, and terrestrial/urban ecosystems such as forests, flora and fauna, and cities.