A Possible Student Biology Research Project: Investigating Historical Mammal Species Loss as an Indicator of Biodiversity Decline

抄録

Many parts of secondary and tertiary biology curricula in Australia have opportunities for students to undertake research. Biodiversity loss is a major concern to the environmental health of planet Earth and forms parts of the secondary school science subjects, and also biology courses at universities. Here I describe a potential student research project that in-vestigates the loss of biodiversity. It is illustrated by a case study in loss of mammal species in a region of Victoria, Australia. The investi-gation involved searching books and reports written in the 19th Century after European settlement of Victoria that include reference to mammals that once lived in the south-west of the State. Sources were searched detailing past and present distributions of mammals. As well, newspapers (es-pecially regional ones) were searched for mentions of mammals in the same time period. Finally, articles on sub-fossil (Holocene) deposits that contain mammalian remains in the region were ac-cessed. The technique could be applied to any flora or fauna group and the causes of extirpation could be investigated. The case study is an example of a biology research project for senior secondary or tertiary students to carry out in their own locality.