2.1 field techniques for biologists Flashcards
what can anthropomorphism cause?
false conclusions to be drawn
what is anthropomorphism?
attributing human characteristics to non-human species
what does an ethogram allow?
time budgets (time allocated to particular behaviours in a given time frame) to be made
what is an ethogram?
a detailed list of specific behaviours to seen in a wild context
what is latency regarding animal behvaviour?
time between stimulus occurring and response behaviour
in order to quantify animal behaviour, which three specific methods can be used?
latency, frequency, duration
what must the chosen method of marking a species do?
minimise the impact on the species
what are some examples of methods used to mark animals?
hair clipping, banding, tagging, surgical implantation, painting
which equation is used if individuals in the second sample are recaptured?
N = MC/R
what does the process of mark and recapture involve?
capturing and marking a sample of the population (M) and releasing them. after and interval of time, a second sample is captured.
what does absence/reduced numbers in a species indicate?
that a particular factor that it is susceptible to is present/vice-versa
what are indicator species?
species whose population presence, absence or abundance can be used to give information about the environment
what are the model organisms for chortada?
mice, rats and zebrafish
what is the model organism for nematodes?
C. elegans (worm)
what is the model organism form arthropods?
drosophila (fruit fly)
what is the model organism for flowering plant?
Arabidopsis thaliana
what is the model organism for bacteria?
E. Coli
what are nematoda?
round worms
what are arthropoda?
jointed legged invertebrates with a segmented body
what are chordata?
sea quirts and vertebrates
what does familiarity with taxonomic groupings allow?
predictions to be made between the biology of an organism and better-known (model) organisms
what is convergent evolution?
similar structures that have evolved from different ancestors
what is divergent evolution?
the accumulation of difference as species from a common ancestor undergo changes over time
what does phylogenetics use to make an inference about evolutionary history?
traits such as morphology, DNA structures and protein structures
what is the phylogenetic tree?
a diagrammatic hypothesis of relationships
what are phylogenetics?
the study of the evolutionary history and the relationships among individuals/groups
what do taxonomic groupings e.g. arthopods allow?
predictions and inferences to be made between the biology of an organism and model organisms
what does king prawn curry or fresh green salad stand for?
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
what is taxonomy?
the classification of life according to relatedness
what is classification?
the method used to order living organisms and to help identify individual organisms
in netting, what will affect what you capture?
the size of the net and the size of the mesh
name the two capture techniques
pitfall traps, netting
what is scat sampling?
an indirect method whereby animal droppings are collected in particular areas
what does remote detection allow?
more elusive species to be observed without the observer being present
what is remote detection?
camera traps that are triggered when wildlife is present
what is a transect line?
a line along which different samples can be taken
where are transect lines usually positioned?
where the terrain or abiotic factors are changeable
how are point counts carried out?
by recording the organisms seen and heard from a stationary point
what are the three sampling Rs?
representative, reliable source of data, random selection
how should sampling be carried out?
in a manner that minimises impact
considering rare and vulnerable species and habitats protected by legislation
what are carried out to minimise risks?
risk assessments
what is a risk?
the likelihood of harm arising from a hazard
when conducting fieldwork, what should be selected appropriately to avoid hazards?
clothing, footwear, supplies, means of communication
when conducting fieldwork, which hazards and tests must be assessed first?
terrain, weather conditions, isolation, contact with harmful organisms
