Problem Set One
1.
a) The species are obviously made up, but is the genus Phoxinus real? Describe a real minnow in the genus Phoxinus in terms of its feeding behavior.
Yes, Phoxinus is real. A minnow is a small, lively freshwater fish. Minnow lives in groups and feeds on plant debris, alae, molluscs and insects. They are important component of the diet of larger fishes.
b) Are these observations consistent with character displacement?
Yes, her observations are consistent with character displacement because they are occurring within the same geographical area and both species of freshwater fish are overlapping in distribution.
a) What happened? What do the results of these observations suggest regarding the behavior of these two …show more content…
This article explains the interaction between predator and prey is an evolutionary race. It explains the selection on predators to become efficient and effective at detecting and capturing their prey. In an aquatic ecosystem, the sense of smell is important for many prey and predators. It explains how the nature and role of predator detect species, disturbance cues, and diet cues on their behavior. Predators that catches prey are unaware usually win and if prey with advanced knowledge of predator’s approach usually win. They can evade detection, seek shelter or initiate the fight. The hypothesis was to test the chemistry between predator and prey. They were trying to accomplished the survival value, validation of laboratory results, understanding the benefits of the prey, understanding their life-history, and lastly the evolution of chemical alarm cues. For the past decade, it has clarified our understanding the role of predator-prey interactions in aquatic habitats and opened new ones. It has also open the physiology of the sense of smell since it was very important to both predator and prey.
3. Population of roof rats in a grainery is growing at a rate of .04/day. On October 13th, the population is 23 individuals. If the population were to grow unchecked, what would the population be on June 3rd? What is a roof rat? In a real scenario, what sort of factors might keep the population …show more content…
Is it a real organism? If so, what factors of its behavior or biology might bias this estimate of population size?
Moorish idol is a real organism which is a marine fish species. They live in tropical to subtropical reefs and in lagoons. A factor that might bias this estimate of population size is being in the same location and she only did it for 2 days. She should have couple more observation instead of having only two days.
6. Go to the following link and read the paper. Write a two-paragraph passage explaining the article’s methods and major conclusions. https://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6234/571.full The hypothesis of this article was the to determine which factors contribute the greatest uncertainty to climate change that involves extinction risks. In the future global temperatures, extinction risk will accelerate. They are trying to find strategies that limit further climate change if they are trying to avoid the speed of extinctions. The article’s method was to perform a meta-analysis of 131 published predictions. Mark evaluated how extinction risk depends on future global temperature increases, taxonomic groups, geographic regions, endemism, modeling techniques, dispersal assumptions, and extinction thresholds. It is predicted that 7.9% of species will come to be extinct from climate change. Climate change was best explained why there will be an extinction