This project needs to be completed by tomorrow
Microsoft Word - ECOLOGY_PROJECT_1_online_version.docx ECOLOGY FIELD PROJECT 1 14 September, week 8 Ecological Observations and Hypothesis Testing Any good ecological research starts with detailed observations of natural phenomena. We observe patterns in nature and ponder why they exist. Based on what we know already, we may think of some hypotheses that could explain the patterns. Can we test these hypotheses, and if so, how do we go about it? Coming up with interesting questions and testable hypotheses is the hardest part of “doing science”. The first step is to cultivate your “eyes” for observing nature. In our first Ecology practical, we will practice the process of scientific inquiry. We will train our eyes for observations, practice forming ecological questions and testable hypotheses, and design an experiment. You can do this activity anywhere on your own. Take a walk in your neighborhood, go to nearby parks, natural areas, or your own backyard. You can even do this inside your own house (e.g. fridge?)! Find any living creatures and make observations. I. Activities Observations: In any natural areas you decide to visit, make at least 5 observations on natural patterns and processes, and take notes. Write down anything you find interesting. Don’t just look ahead—look above, look down, turn logs and rocks (but put them back when you are done), turn leaves… You can make observations at a landscape-level (look around the whole forest), or at a much smaller scale, like a single leaf. Focus on the patterns—for example in Plenty Gorge Park, you may notice that after the bushfire of 2019, some trees have already re-sprouted, while some haven’t. Do you see any patterns as to which trees are re-sprouting? Write down as much details of your observations as you can. Questions: Once you’ve made an observation, think of a question you might want to ask. There are three types/levels of questions: 1) “What” questions ask for information—e.g. “what species is this?”, “is this native or non-native species?”. You can easily find out the answer by looking up the information, so these are not very interesting kind of questions. 2) “Where/When/Which” questions ask for patterns—e.g. “which trees are re- sprouting?”, “where do we find trees that did not re-sprout?”. These are important questions for motivating your research, but may not be so interesting on their own. 3) “Why/How” questions ask for mechanisms—e.g. “how do trees re-sprout?”, “why do trees differ in re-sprouting capacity?” These are the most interesting kind of inquiry in my opinion, because after all, ecology is all about finding out how nature works. You can also ask questions at multiple scales: A broad, “big picture” question may address a major issue in the field of ecology. For example, your observation about the re-sprouting pattern could be put into the context of disturbance and succession—e.g. “how does disturbance affect species diversity?” It’s important to identify the big picture of your study, but the question may be a bit too daunting to tackle by yourself! Let’s be a bit more specific so that you can possibly address your question in your research project. For example: a. “How does bushfire alter plant species composition and demography?” b. “Why do trees differ in their ability to survive bushfire and re-sprout?” c. “Why is this tree not re-sprouting?” Question c is too specific that it would not appeal to a large audience. Question a would perhaps require years of research. Question b seems not too broad, and not too narrow—just right. You can address this within a research project. See if you can come up with Why/How questions for each observation that you made. Think about questions that can be addressed in a single research project (day trip or a semester). Write them down. Hypotheses: a hypothesis is your explanation for why the observed pattern may exist. In other words, a hypothesis describes the mechanism behind the pattern. It is NOT the pattern itself. Let’s come up with the hypotheses for the question, “Why do trees differ in their ability to survive bushfire and re-sprout?”. Maybe it is because different tree species have different levels of tolerance to fire (i.e. species are differently adapted to fire). Alternatively, the size of trees (regardless of the species identity) might determine their ability to re-sprout because they differ in the amount of resources stored in trunks and roots. Another possibility is…well you can come up with many alternative hypotheses for this. For each question, formulate your own hypotheses. Think of as many hypotheses as you can and write them down. Experimental Design: Select one Observation/Question/Hypothesis to further develop your research. Design an experiment/survey to test your specific hypothesis. As an example, let’s take a look at the hypothesis that “trees differ in re-sprouting capacity because they differ in size and the amount of resources stored in trunks/roots necessary for re-sprouting”. How can we test this hypothesis? Perhaps one can estimate the level of re-sprouting for each tree, and see if that correlates with the size of the tree (DBH: tree diameter at breast height). Alternatively, you can compare DBH of trees that re-sprouted and trees that did not. Does it require a control? If so, what would that be? How many trees should you sample? What is your prediction (i.e. what outcome would support your hypothesis)? II. Report You will write a short research proposal based on one of the observations you made during your “field trip” (out of 100). The report should be no more than 3 pages, single-spaced. The report should include the following: 1. Title of your proposed research (5 points). The title should be concise and to the point. What do you intend to investigate? 2. Detailed description of observations you made on one natural phenomenon/ process/pattern (1 paragraph/10 points). Description should be written clearly and concisely. 3. Your research question based on the above observation (1 sentence/10 points)— provide a specific question that can be addressed in the scope of one research project (e.g. a semester or a year). Ask a “Why/How?” (mechanisms) question. 4. Your hypotheses (1 paragraph/20 points)—provide one main hypothesis that you propose to test, and as many alternative hypotheses you can think of. The hypothesis should directly address your question above. 5. Experimental design (1-2 paragraphs/20 points)—design an experiment/survey to test your main hypothesis. Describe 1) your contrasts (control and treatments?), 2) sample size (number of replicates per treatment), and 3) briefly explain how you take measurements. Be creative. You are not limited with equipment, so you can propose to use whatever methods necessary, as long as they sound reasonable. 6. Your predictions (1 paragraph/10 points)—describe the predicted outcome of your experiment if your hypothesis was to be supported. Provide figure(s) of predicted patterns. 7. Find at least two journal articles that address your main question/hypothesis (1 paragraph/20 points). Briefly describe what they found. Discuss how these papers relate to your proposal—did they suggest alternative hypotheses that you hadn’t thought of? Did their results support your hypothesis? Provide full references of the above articles (5 points). You can find journal articles directly through RMIT library (https://www.rmit.edu.au/library) or search for articles in Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) and obtain them through RMIT library.