Field Techniques for Biologists Flashcards
What is a risk assessment?
document that
- identifies the potential hazards
- assesses the likelihood of them happening
- clearly describes the steps that can be taken to minimize their occurrence
What are two extra risks of fieldwork compared with lab-work?
terrain
weather
unpredictability, lack of control
What are the four hazards involved in field work?
<em>T</em>errain
<em>W</em>eather Conditions
<em>I</em>solation
<em>T</em>ides
What can you do to prepare for
- terrains
- tides
- appropriate footwear
- consult tide tables
how should sampling be carried out
manner that minimizes impact on wild species and habitats
What are the three main sampling techniques
Transect Surveys
Point count
Remote detection
Describe a transect study
- A transect is a line along which different samples can be taken
- set up in an area where abiotic factors are changing
- plant abundance/abundance of sessile organisms are sampled
- can use quadrats or meters
What is a point count? Give an example of a species that is sampled using a point count
- sampling technique where counting all the species seen/heard in a given area over a set period of time
- stationary point
- comparisons can be made throughout the year
Example - birds
Give a sampling technique that can be used for elusive species
remote detection
Give examples of remote detection
Scat sampling
Camera traps
What are the three types of sampling techniques?
Random
Stratified
Systematic
Describe random sampling
Individuals selected from the larger populations must be chosen completely at chance
What is this an example of?
10 people from each year were chosen to complete a health test
Stratified
What type of sampling are transect surveys?
Systematic
How can a species be identified?
Classification guides
Biological Keys
Lab Analysis of DNA
What is a benefit of being familiar with taxonomic groupings?
Allows predictions to be made about the biology of an unknown or lesser-known organism
What is a model organism?
Model organisms are organisms that scientists already know a lot about and have been studying for many years
Give examples of model organisms
E. coli, Drosophila, Yeast and Mice
Give a benefit of model organisms
Help biologists understand many processes that happen in organisms that are harder to study
Let scientists make predictions about more complex organisms
Give a benefit to humans of model organisms
Knowledge of pathway in one organism can provide insight into same pathway in humans
What is the difference between convergent and divergent evolution?
convergent - organisms who are not closely related, same pressures, develop similar phenotypes
divergent - closely related species with different selection pressures, develop opposite phenotypes
What are the three domains of life?
Archae
Bacteria
Eukaryota
What are the five plant kingdom divisions?
Mosses Liverworts Ferns Gymnosperms Angiosperms
What are the main characteristics of a fern?
flowerless plants
reproduce using spores
have a vascular system
what type of plant is this describing:
flowerless plant, without seeds or vascular system
mosses
Describe a liverwort
flowerless plant, produce spores, overlapping leaves
what type of plant is this describing:
flowerless plant that produces seeds for reproduction and have a vascular system
Gymnosperms
describe an angiosperm
flowering plant
what are the five animal kingdom divisions
chordata arthropoda nematoda platyhelminthes mollusca
what animal kingdom division are we
chordata
sea squirts and verebrates
what animal kingdom are round worms in
nematoda
describe platyhelminthes
flat worms, many parasitic, show bilateral symmetry and internal organs
what animal kingdom is this describing: greatly varied, characterized by the presence of a shell
mollusca
describe arthropoda
joint legged invertebrates, segmented body and paired appendages
example : spidee
what about a indicator species can give information on the quality of the environment
presence
absence
abundance
what can biodiversity of lichen species in an area indicate
the levels of sulphur dioxide in the air
What is the mark and recapture equation
n = mc/r
n - estimate of total population
m - number captured and released in first sample
c - number captured in second sample
r - number of marked recaptured in second sample
what can marking techniques not do
make the animal more conspicuous
what are the assumptions made when doing a mark and recapture
- all individuals have an equal chance of capture
- no immigration or emigration during study
- no birth or death during sample time
- sampling methods are the same each time
what are some methods of marking
banding tagging surgical implantation painting hairclipping
what is ethology
the study of animal behaviour
what is an ethogram
the recording of all observed behaviours shown by a species over a particular period of time
what is the application of human qualities to animal behaviours
anthropomorphism
what are the measurements made in time budgets
latency - time taken to respond to a stimulus
frequency
duration
what can be constructed with latency, frequency and duration data
a time budget
