Research project on behavioural ecology
Independent research project Lab report DUE: Monday, Dec. 5 (other deadlines see below) Field notebook or raw data: /5 Complete set of all relevant variables. Reasonable sample size / number of datapoints that demonstrate(s) an appropriate level of effort [3] Level of clarity & organization [2] Introduction Introduce study organism and specify ecological area of interest, giving appropriate context to the study [8] Clearly state research objectives and hypothesis [2] Make clear and logical predictions [2] /12 Methods Data source or experimental design is clearly laid out: e.g. control, treatments [5] Clear explanation of methods, in past tense, with sufficient detail so /20 that it could be repeated by another researcher [7] Used appropriate statistical tests [8] Results Clear, appropriate figures and tables [3] All figures and tables have numbers, labels and captions [3] Clearly summarizes the results of statistical tests and states significance or trends as applicable [10] Refer to figures, tables, and statistical analyses in text [2] Concise and limited to describing patterns (NOT interpreting or discussing them) [2] /20 Discussion Insightful interpretation and discussion of the results of the experiment or study in the context of the appropriate ecological concepts [10] Uses appropriate references to explain results and put them into a broader context within the applicable ecological field [10] /20 References Format in references section [2] Include at least four references (excluding ones in lab manual) [4] Appropriate usage/format in text [1] /7 Communication, writing style and format /6 Communication: Clearly and logically organized and reads well with good flow throughout, well-structured and connected paragraphs. [4] Clear and concise writing with no or minimal errors [2] Extra effort/Stand-out quality Additional relevant statistical analyses [1] Experimental design (and/or research question) that goes beyond lab manual examples [2] Exceptionally clear writing overall and/or particularly well articulated and logical discussion [1] /5 Project INSTRUCTIONS You could use Youtube videos, wildlife webcams (including from zoos or aquariums), or other videos (possibly even footage from nature documentaries) to observe and collect behavioural data to address a behavioural ecology question (or possibly another ecological question) This is the recommended option (I think it is easier than dealing with the most of the datasets listed below in option 2, mainly because many of these will be quite large (even immensely huge), with some exceptions). One exception may be the British Trust of ornithology data in option 2, that has some easily accessible, relatively small, species-specific datasets. (please make sure your question topic falls within behavioural ecology, not just behaviour (i.e. you should be able to predict what behaviours you would expect to see, given a particular scenario, because they would lead to increased fitness)) Here are two research articles that explore the possibilities of using youtube videos (please note the articles themselves don't seem to address behavioural ecology questions, so please don't just repeat these studies in exactly the same way, but you can do something similar (e.g. looking at a different aspect etc.). If you read the introduction of these articles you will also find examples of other types of publicly available data (and links to it!) that has been used in ecological research (and examples of studies based on this) = more possible ideas and resources for you! • Social media and scientific research are complementary—YouTube and shrikes as a case study • What can we learn about the behaviour of red and grey squirrels from Youtube • Some ideas on what you MIGHT be able to do with youtube: e.g. one prediction might be that because there are less predators in urban areas and more competition for food you would see smaller flocks of a particular bird species (or see birds spend longer amounts of time e.g. at feeders) than in more rural areas (similar to the study mentioned in your Simbio chapter, but different kinds of variables to measure the effects of fear). Or compare behaviour of urban wildlife in videos in the presence and absence of pets that might be seen as predators or are predators (cats, dogs). Or predict that bird parents should https://eclass.yorku.ca/eclass/pluginfile.php/1473199/mod_page/content/15/BIOL%202050%20Lab%202%20-%20Fall%202020.pdf?time=1600709871301 https://eclass.yorku.ca/eclass/pluginfile.php/1473199/mod_page/content/15/Dylewski%20et%20al%202017%20Social%20media%20and%20scientific%20research%20are%20complementary%E2%80%94YouTube%20and%20shrikes%20as%20a%20case%20study.pdf https://eclass.yorku.ca/eclass/pluginfile.php/1473199/mod_page/content/15/Jagiello%20et%20al%202019%20What%20can%20we%20learn%20about%20the%20behaviour%20of%20red%20and%20grey%20squirrels%20from%20Youtube.pdf?time=1601701917848 preferentially (or first) feed the most vigorously begging chick among all chicks (signaling the greatest hunger). Obviously you would need to search for videos & make sure you can find sufficient material to be able to address these kinds of questions. Some collections of animal webcams (there's plenty more, zoos and aquariums may be an option, too): https://explore.org/livecams https://www.audubon.org/news/top-10-wildlife-web-cams A related option to the videos, but a somewhat different approach would be to use pictures to track changes over years/decades: e.g. using the virtual forest (dairybush http://gigapan.com/galleries/5668, same as in the bonus points Tree project instructions) and compare pictures of trees across years (e.g. to investigate changes in phenology: e.g. if there is a significant trend in later leaf loss/color change) https://explore.org/livecams https://explore.org/livecams https://www.audubon.org/news/top-10-wildlife-web-cams http://gigapan.com/galleries/5668