Lab 7 Population Biology
What are the three factors that affect population size?
What is the name for the counting method where each individual organism is counted directly?
A farmer wants to know approximately how many dandelions are growing in one of his large crop fields. What population counting method would be best for this task?
You are tasked with counting the number of barn owls that live in a particular area. What population counting method would be best for this task?
How did your results from the complete count compare to the quadrat sampling results?
What factors may have affected your quadrat sampling results?
Give an example of a situation where a complete count would be the best method to use.
Give an example of a situation where quadrant sampling would be the best method to use.
How accurate was your estimate of the number of bass using the mark-recapture method?
In a real-life scenario, would a complete count of bass fish be more practical than using the mark-recapture method? Why or why not?
Why would it be important for marked bass to be returned to the lake unharmed when performing a mark-recapture procedure?
How was the growth of the plants at “Site A” and “Site B” similar? How was the growth different?
Which site appeared to be the healthiest at the end of the observation period? Explain your reasoning.
Based on what you know about interspecific competition, why do you think some of the plants at Site A died?