Questions from Ecology

Q: Imagine sampling a population of plants or animals to determine the distribution

Imagine sampling a population of plants or animals to determine the distribution of individuals across the habitat. One of the most basic questions that you could ask is, “How are in...

Q: In chapter 1, we reviewed the roles of questions and hypotheses

In chapter 1, we reviewed the roles of questions and hypotheses in the process of science. Briefly, we considered how scientists use information to formulate questions about the natural world and conv...

Q: Ecologists often ask questions about observed frequencies of individuals in a population

Ecologists often ask questions about observed frequencies of individuals in a population relative to some theoretical or expected frequencies. For example, an ecologist studying the nesting habits of...

Q: Suppose you are studying the life history of three species of herbaceous

Suppose you are studying the life history of three species of herbaceous plants in a desert landscape. As part of that study, you are interested in determining the pattern of distribution of individua...

Q: Field experiments have played a key role in the assessment of the

Field experiments have played a key role in the assessment of the importance of competitive interactions in nature. Joseph Connell (1974) and Nelson Hairston, Sr. (1989), two of the pioneers in the us...

Q: When we introduced the sample mean, we pointed out how it

When we introduced the sample mean, we pointed out how it is an estimate of the actual, or true, population mean. A second sample from a population would probably have a different sample mean and a th...

Q: n chapter 14 we reviewed how to calculate the standard error,

n chapter 14 we reviewed how to calculate the standard error, s _ X, which is an estimate of variation among means of samples drawn from a population. Here, we will use the standard error to calculate...

Q: How many species are there? This is one of the most

How many species are there? This is one of the most fundamental questions that an ecologist can ask about a community. With increasing threats to biological diversity, species richness is also one of...

Q: In chapter 15 we reviewed how to calculate confidence intervals for the

In chapter 15 we reviewed how to calculate confidence intervals for the true population mean as: Here, we will use the confidence intervals calculated from samples of two populations to create a vis...

Q: Design a planetary ecosystem based entirely on chemosynthesis. You might choose

Design a planetary ecosystem based entirely on chemosynthesis. You might choose an undiscovered planet of some distant star or one of the planets in our own solar system, either today or at some dista...