2.1 Flashcards
What hazards are associated with field work?
- terrain
- weather conditions
- isolation
- contact with harmful organisms
What is risk?
the likelihood of harm arising from hazard exposure
What does a risk assessment involve?
it involves identifying control measures to minimise risk
What are control measure examples?
- appropriate equipment
- clothing
- footwear
- means of communication
What is the risk of terrain?
relates to ground conditions, uneven ground can be dangerous, risk of falling must be assessed
What is the risk of weather conditions?
can affect quality/reliability of study, pose as significant hazard, forecast checking and awareness of weather change essential
What is the risk of isolation?
more of a threat for lone researcher, work with at least one other person, always inform someone of an emergency plan
What is the risk of harmful organisms?
must be fully aware of harmful organisms within ecosystem being sampled, minimise contact and have safety measures in place
What should be considered when sampling wild organisms?
study should minimise impact on wild organisms and their habitat, consider rare or vulnerable species or habitats (protected by legislation)
What are some examples of sampling methods and how should they be carried out?
point counts, transects, remote detection, quadrats, capture techniques, camera traps and scat sampling.
must be appropriate to sample species and should be random, stratified and systematic
Describe point counts…
- observer stands at fixed point, records everything seen/heard at time
- used for data comparison from other locations/times
Describe a transect study…
- distribution of species along fixed line
- moving along line and measuring biotic and abiotic factors can show how they affect species diversity
Describe remote detection…
- captures animal presence when researcher not present
- for rare/nocturnal species difficult to locate/catch
Describe quadrats…
- suitable shape, size, marks of exact area so organisms identified/counted
- for sessile and slow moving creatures
Describe capture techniques…
traps and nets for mobile species
Describe camera traps…
observing individual species in natural habitat, for elusive species
Describe scat sampling…
using droppings to estimate number of an individual species
Name some methods of identification…
methods of identifying a living sample are biological keys, classification guides and DNA or Protein analysis
How can organisms be classified?
by taxonomy and phylogenetics
What is phylogenetics?
the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals or groups of organisms
How does phylogenetics work?
it uses heritable traits (morphology, DNA sequences and protein structure) to make inferences about an organisms evolutionary history and create phylogenetic tree t show relationships with other organisms
What does genetic evidence reveal?
relatedness obscured by divergent or convergent evolution
What is divergent evolution?
two different species share same ancestral origins but evolved differently
What is convergent evolution?
species with different ancestral origins have developed similar features
What is taxonomy?
involves identification and naming of organisms and classification into groups based on shared characteristics
What is classic taxonomy based on?
morphology
What are the three domains in life?
- archaea
- bacteria
- eukaryota
Name the major taxonomic groups in order…
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
What are the Phylum in the animal kingdom?
- chordates
- arthropods
- nematodes
Describe chordates…
sea squirts and all vertibrates
Describe arthropods…
joint-legged invertibrates; segmented body parts
Describe nematodes…
round worms; very diverse, many are parasites
What are model organisms?
those that are easily studied or have been well studied, info from these can be applied to species more difficult to study directly
Name model organisms for specific taxonomic groups
Bacteria - E.Coli
Chordates - mice, rats, zebrafish
Arthropods - Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies)
Nematodes - C.elegans
Flowering Plants - Arabidopsis thaliana
Why is it important to monitor populations?
- important in assessing environmental impact
- if little info on ecosystem and populations it is difficult to monitor change
As human impacts can cause drastic changes to populations in a short period of time, it is important to monitor populations to prevent extinction
What is an indicator species?
a species whose presence, absence or abundance can give info of environmental qualities such as presence of pollutants
Examples of indicator species…
lichen - SO(2) concentration
freshwater invertibrates - oxygen concentration
What is the mark and recapture equation?
N = (MC)/R
N - estimate population
M - first capture sample (all marked)
C - second capture sample
R - recaptures, marked organisms in second capture
What does mark and recapture assume?
mark and recapture assume all individuals have equal capture chance, that there is no immigration or emigration and that marked individuals can mix fully and randomly with total population once released
Name methods of marking…
- Banding
- Tagging
- Surgical implantation
- Painting/hair clipping
Describe banding…
metal bands/rings on birds leg with unique number
Describe tagging…
tag attached to wing/body part
Describe surgical implantation…
radio transmitters or microchips or ultrasonic transmitters can be implanted to keep track of an animal, some fall of over time, some removed/replaced
Describe painting/hair clipping…
low cost temporary method, one-off or short term studies, paint should be waterproof and non-toxic
Describe the avoidance of impacting species…
- marking and observation must minimise impact on study species
- influence of human behaviour can affect validity of the study
- be careful study has no negative effects on organisms, e.g. damaging health or making them more likely to be caught by predators
What is ethology?
the study of animal behaviour
What is an ethogram?
a method of recording behaviour types shown by species in wild context
What measurements are used to quantify animal behaviour?
- duration
-frequency
-latency
What is duration?
the length of time for which a behaviour is carried out
What is duration?
how long a piece of behaviour lasts
What is frequency?
number of times a behaviour occurs in a set time
What is latency?
length of time between presentation of stimulus and the behavioural response
What are problems with carrying out ethograms?
- anthropomorphism
- artificial influences
- animal moves out of view
What is anthropomorphism?
when human qualities or emotions are attributed to animal behaviours, clearly factually incorrect as no way to verify, can lead to invalid conclusions
