Science Case Study

diversity is low because only one area was sampled so this could account for the species being the same. If

In order to interpret our results we had to use the chi-squared test. This test compares the observed behaviors to the expected behavior if it was randomly distributed, also considered to be the null hypothesis where SSA is applied randomly on the squirrel’s body. From using the chi-squared equation (shown to the right), I calculated the expected frequency for each species, 12.6 per area for the S. beecheyi and 10 per area for the S. Variegatus. The chi-squared values for both the S. beecheyi and S. variegatus were 70.13 and 65, respectively. For this lab experiment there were 5 independent pieces of data, therefore 4 degrees of freedom. Given that piece of information we were able to look up the critical values at a confidence of 0.05 and 0.01, which were 9.488 and 13.277, respectively. The chi-squared value for both species

In order to test the null hypothesis, we must calculate the chi square (χ²) values and the degrees of freedom that are based on the numbers of each fly phenotype (including gender) we observed and what we expected. By using the ratio to calculate the number of each phenotype we

Investigation on species distribution and abundance (SDA) is one of the major topics in ecology. It is well-recognized that SDA is affected by abiotic and biotic variables; and interaction between each variable. Abiotic variables such temperature and rainfall play important roles to filter species distribution (Catling and Burt 1995a; Catling et al. 1998). Human intervention through land-use changes and urban development can also affect species distribution (Holland and Bennett 2007). Those broad-scale variables interact with localized variables such

Using the numbers from the table do you see obvious differences in the numbers and diversity of invertebrate like found at the two sites? 
Increases and decreases in certain invertebrates can be seen at the two sites. Upstream there were more Mayflies, Stoneflies, Caddisflies, Leeches, and Earthworms. Downstream there were increases in Snails, Midges, Craneflies, and Blackflies and decreases of the upstream invertebrates. Planaria was the only invertebrate that neither increased nor decreased since there were none found at either site.

NGSS 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

I will use the simple random sampling process to select a random sample of 33 people from each group (degree and school qualification) to compare from a total population of 300 people.

Parenti states that there are three principals to biogeography: endemism, terrain fidelity, and area classification. In terrain classification, groups of endemic species are predicted by using maps. Besides using mapping to interpret areas of endemic species, biogeologist use the comparative method. The comparative method compares animals found in certain biotas. She further explains that there are two mechanisms that explain endemic distributions: dispersal and vicariance. Dr. Parenti adds that she is very much in favor for vicariance. She explains that dispersion explains the movement within an endemic area, but there are no generation

Sampling error is the chance that the differences viewed in a measure of a sample group are due to chance and randomness. To avoid sampling errors, we run a statistical test that can help us find if

In figure 2, we observe that dissolved oxygen levels are higher in site 2 compared to site 1 and that variations within the same site are rather small. Lastly, both figure 1 and figure 2 show slightly higher elevations of both pH and dissolved oxygen at the 3rd location of sampling. In figure 3, we observe a significant correlation between pH and Simpson’s Diversity Index where it can be noted that the higher the level of pH, the higher the diversity index. In figure 4, we observe an unsupported correlation between pH and total taxa. Henceforth, total taxa does not depend on pH levels. In figure 5, an unsupported correlation between is observed between dissolved oxygen and Simpson’s Diversity Index. In figure 6, an unsupported correlation is observed between dissolved oxygen and total taxa. As in figure 4, it can be concluded from these observations that total taxa does not depend on dissolved oxygen levels in the water. In figure 7, it is observed that the percent relative abundance of taxa at site 1 does not share a particular link with the percent relative abundance of taxa at site 2. Furthermore, different taxa are shown to be dominant for both sites. Ephemeroptera and Odonata are the only taxa shared by both sites according to this figure.

The Royle-Nichols model allows estimation of abundance from multiple observations of present-absent animals without specifically marking the animal. This model represents the spatial distribution of the species observed. Several assumptions are made but two of them are fundamental for this model. First one is that the spatial distribution of the animals across survey sites follows Poisson distribution, and second is the probability of detecting an animal at a site is a function of how many animals are actually at that site.

The general analysis of invertebrate richness and diversity prove that shallow leaf litter is more biodiverse than deep leaf litter. From graph 2, shallow leaf litter is proven to be more biodiverse where the spread of invertebrate richness is higher with a relatively low rate of error denoted by the low standard deviation. Similarly, figure 6 also shows a similar trend where the mean of shallow leaf litter diversity was greater than deep leaf litter. The mean results of invertebrate abundance also show shallow leaf litter to be more abundant, however this is affected by the extreme outlier seen in figure 2, where there is a large leeway for error due to the high standard deviation. This may be due to human error due to transcription, an error in counting the amount of species or the designated shallow leaf litter contained species that were extremely common, providing a large abundance value. However, figure 1 and the comparison of boxplots in graph 1, show the overall values of deep leaf litter are centred higher, indicating that deep leaf litter has greater abundance, excluding outliers.

In ecology, the change in species diversity across space and time is one of the oldest studied subjects, however the underlying causes of many diversity patterns is under much debate (Field et al. 2001; MacArthur, 1972; Rosenzweig, 1995). How does diversity arise (Erwin 1991)? How is diversity distributed in space (Dean et al. 1997, Fonseca et al. 2000)? And how is diversity maintained (Lande, 1988)? Are three fundamental questions that ecologist look to answer. Early studies focused around the role of competition in determining diversity at local scales, today however it is emphasized that many factors on top of competition,

Due to the significant negative impact of the industrial activities on the habitat, many species have become endangered. To conserve the species, a thorough investigation is needed. In this case, the research is based on the study the interdependencies between the genotype and spatial dispersal of populations.

The total number of sample size was 40respondent, which its size is determined using the non-probability sampling.