A Major Measure Of Biological Fitness

A two-part study was recently done to show what natural habitat a Pill bug, Armadillidium vulgare, naturally prefers: wet or dry environments along with a light or dark environment. It was hypothesized that a Pill bug would prefer and wet and dark environment based on its natural habitat of soil. For the wet and dry experiment, a coffee filter and soil were placed in each chamber of a double petri dish with one being dampened before being placed in. For the light and dry experiment a light was hung above one chamber of another double-chambered petri dish while the other chamber was covered with aluminum foil, after placing soil in both chambers. An equal number of Pill bugs was placed in each chamber and a study was taken for

The purpose of this lab is to better understand the process of natural selection and its effects on a population by conducting a stimulation. The stimulation consist of predators (students with either a spoon, fork or a knife) and prey (different types of beans). Furthermore, students will be able to determine how phenotype (bean color and utensil used by the predators) influences natural selection. Students will also demonstrate their quantitative skills by determining the predator survival and reproduction, bean survival and reproduction, and by calculating the total percent of the population. Additionally, students will be able to identify the occurrence of evolution by natural selection after the end of generation three. Moreover, students

As a result of "human emissions of greenhouse gasses," numerous species of butterflies worldwide are facing the risk of extinction (World Wide Fund). Global warming is the gradual heating of the planet, which is triggered by human activities such as pollution from factories, results in climate change around the world (Rogers). Due to climate change, various species of butterflies need to adapt to these changes, but instead, they are dying out due to their sensitivity to fluctuating temperatures (Rogers). In the United Kingdom, scientists predict that “for every 1 °C increase in southwestern Europe’s temperature, some 14 different species of migratory butterflies and moths are forced to make the leap to England to cool off, which means making a long journey over open water” (Rogers). Climate change has required many species of butterflies to leave their migration paths and cross the treacherous oceans; this increases their risk of death

In this chapter the author stresses the importance of creatures that pollinate such as insects, birds,

The goal of our experiment was to determine the type of environment that pill bugs prefer. During the experiment, the pill bugs went through three trials. The pill bugs were placed in different environments, such as cold environment (ice), normal environment (room temperature), and hot environment (heat) and their behavior was observed. In the first trial, all the four pill bugs were moving in ice, room temperature, and hot environment. The average turning of bugs was 2.5 turning in ice, 4 turning in room temperature, and 3 turning in the heat. The average round made by bugs was 1.5 round in ice, 1 round in room temperature, and .5 round in heat. In the second trial, all four bugs were moving in ice, room temperature, and heat. The average turning was 1 turning in ice, 2 turning in

As deforestation began to take place at the low elevation levels in the hawaiian forests, the honeycreepers were forced to move to higher ground, in hawaii there has been found to be a threshold temperature where the plasmodium development in mosquitoes cannot developpe to the stage of becoming infective, that threshold (11,12 degrees celsius) with the increase of climate change mosquitoes will be able to slowly rise up to high elevation areas where the honeycreepers take refuge, spreading more diseases and shrinking the entire hawaiian bird population. Researches have concluded that increased temperatures in the future will affect the entire ecosystem of hawaii and many other areas, without human intervention many of the biodiversity along the hawaiian islands may cease to exist or have rapid, steady declines. There is still a chance that the Hawaiian Honeycreeper and other birds alike will be able to sustain their species, if land managers can help create more habitats for the birds or help improve the forests they have now. Reducing mosquito population by trying to eliminate breeding sites, and controlling the predator amount for the Hawaiian honeycreepers. These Hawaiian birds can be found nowhere else in the world, and are seen as part of the culture; The honeycreepers play a very big role in pollination throughout the forest and help keep the forest diversity

In this lab, the class discovered the effects of different substrates and stimuli on red flour beetles. Red flour beetles eat flour and other grains and the female beetle deposits her eggs on flour, cereal, dry pet food, or other similar products. The larvae hatch and then begin to eat the material around them. In the article “Patch exploitation by Tribolium castaneum: Movement patterns, distribution, and oviposition”, it says that most of the activity from red flour beetles is spent in food sources (Campbell and Hagstrum). There are many factors that affect the red flour beetles ability to survive or reproduce, like temperature, food source, stress, and genetics (Biology 159). In “Humidity Reactions of Tribolium Castaneum (Herbst)”, it states that red flour beetles are attracted to different substrates due to their nutritional levels and moisture level of the substrate (Willis and Roth).

While society has impacted this alteration, climate change has also made a significant imprint. This study “assesses the extinction risks to species within an important genus of pollinating bees by estimating the expected changes in the area and isolation of suitable habitat under predicted climatic condition for 2050.” (Roberts, S. P., Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, K., Kuhlmann, M., Kunin, B., & Ohlemüller, R., 2011) Climate change has caused bees to migrate from their native environments. The loss of these bees have begun to effect various types of plants, some of which are beginning to perish. Therefore scientist are in pursuit of a suitable habitat. One in which expresses the origin of edible plants, as well as climatic suitability. (Roberts, S. P., Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, K., Kuhlmann, M., Kunin, B., & Ohlemüller, R.,

For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers need a variety of species of beetles coinciding with periods of activity. In the colder areas of the state Victoria, the large Austrian species, which is usually 3.0 cms long, is matched with smaller, around half of its size; sub-tropical Australian species. The Austrian species beetles are less adaptable to cold weather, so are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only two or three generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The Australian beetles, which multiply rapidly in early spring, give birth to three to five generations annually. The French species is a temperate-climate beetle, so it prefers the climate of northern and coastal areas of Victoria and

METHODS: In this experiment, the instructor provided us with 30 ebony individuals and 20 wild type individuals. In order to get an exact amount of each type, we anesthetized the flies and counted them off by gently using a fine point paint brush. Then all 50 Drosophila were put into a population cage which had a lid that had six holes for the centrifuge tubes. Two food tubes and four clean, empty tubes were added on the first day. Each food tube consisted of half a cup full of food mixed with 6-7 milliliters of water. This was the fly medium. The food should turn blue once the water is added. Each tube was labeled with a number and with the date. Every two to three days we added one more food tube until all 6 tubes contained the fly medium. After all 6 tubes were filled, the following days after we exchanged the first food tube with a new food tube. At the end of the experiment, we fed the flies with a total of 8 food tubes. Then the flies were anesthetized, again. At the end of this four week lab, the number of living ebony and wild

The way this was tested was by placing the African dung beetles in two different environments. One environment tested how a

relative humidity on honey bee races. Here, the effects of different levels of temperature and

This article points out that the main causes of the decline in pollinators are climate change and deforestation. The Euglossa marianae, a genus of the orchid bee, are thought to be most affected by climate change and deforestation, and their population is believed to be declining due to human impact. The article tells of a field survey held to identify which populations were at risk due to climate change and to find areas available as natural habitats under legal protection to preserve the bee population. It also states that the most stable areas for this species of bee to inhabit are in South America, and that climate change may actually not be a direct factor of the recent population decrease. André Nemésio, the author of this article, has

2. Explain the purpose and benefits of fitness testing drawing on examples from your chosen activity (5 marks):

The insects that go through reproductive isolation end up not being able to cross breed with any other species. However speciation can lead to by the matter of when time changes what might happen is insects might become more used to different places and overtime change the way they act even with reproductive isolation.