Species-Area Relationship Lab Assignment
This
is the follow-up to the field-work we did for first lab, 1 September.
Your assignment:
1. Data-entry: The designated recorder for each group and
location should enter and share their data. Easiest way to do
that is probably to enter it in two columns on a google drive 'sheets'
document and share it with me (you can send it some other way if you
don't know how to do that). EACH of your
sample series for each site should include::
a) on top line, the name of the site (first forest, second forest, field) and your name.
b) a series of pairs of numbers in separate columns -- with sample area (e.g. '25x25') in one column and number of
new/additional plant species at that size step in the second column,
beginning with the smallest (the 12.5x12.5 cm one). There should be
13 pairs of values for the first two sites, 11 for the meadow/field
c) Data should be entered by this weekend (before Monday 5 Sept)
2. Compilation: I'll combine data-sets and share it all with the whole class as a spreadsheet.
3. Graphical display: Graph the data set in a way that you think best demonstrates the manner in which total species richness is related to sample area and allows you to compare findings among replicates and between sites/habitats. If you have the data in a spreadsheet, you can experiment with different approaches; graphical exploration is one of the best ways to find patterns in data. Play with scales of axes, how you show different data series (same or different graph?), etc. This is all pretty easy to do using the graphing tools available in any spread-sheet; usually it involves selecting some columns and then clicking an 'insert plot/graph' tool -- or the other way around; we'll spend a few minutes in class on Monday 5 Sept to make sure you have basic approach on this so spend some time over weekend beforehand to try!!. (There are fancier scientific graphics tools available as freeware if you're interested; here's a free one, called VEUSZ, that's pretty easy to use).
4. Interpretation/report:
Use selected graphs to illustrate a report in which you:
a) Describe any patterns you see; specifically, focus
on whether there are similarities or differences among replicates within each habitat
and between the two habitats. Refer to specific graphs to illustrate your points as called for.
b) Interpret these patterns; how do they compare with what you might have expected? What might be reasons for patterns
observed (i.e., differences between habitats, differences/similarities
among series within one of the habitats -- or any other patterns that
look interesting to you).
c) From these speculations about reasons for patterns formulate and explicitly state a testable hypothesis -- a statement of a possible process or mechanism at work -- and briefly offer
some ideas for ways of testing/exploring this hypothesis (e.g., what
kinds of additional evidence would be useful? What does your
hypothesis predict and how can you assess these predictions?)
YOUR REPORT should be a coherent/integrated document that BEGINS with a brief description of the data-set, a brief statement of what you expected to see in terms of patterns and differences among sites (i.e., your hypotheses), your discussion of results with selected graphs, and a brief assessment of how these compare to your predictions. If they are different, what do the observed patterns suggest? Text part shouldn't be more than a couple of pages. MAKE SURE your graphs are clearly labeled, and that you follow good, basic graphing practice (label axes, provide legends or captions that explain, etc.).
SUBMIT THE WRITE-UP THROUGH THE CLASS POPULI PAGE as an editable word-processor file. You can insert graphs directly in the document or as separate files (you can either save/submit them as .jpg images or submit the whole spreadsheet). INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE FILENAMES in all submissions (e.g., 'kwoods_speciesarea_report.docx'). DUE MONDAY 12 SEPT (I'll except printed work if you encounter problems with getting assignment uploaded...)