Microsoft Word - ECOLOGY_PROJECT_1_online_version.docx
ECOLOGY FIELD PROJECT 1
14 September, week 8
Ecological Observations and Hypothesis Testing
Any good ecological research starts with detailed observations of natural phenomena. We
observe patterns in nature and ponder why they exist. Based on what we know already, we
may think of some hypotheses that could explain the patterns. Can we test these hypotheses,
and if so, how do we go about it?
Coming up with interesting questions and testable hypotheses is the hardest part of “doing
science”. The first step is to cultivate your “eyes” for observing nature. In our first Ecology
practical, we will practice the process of scientific inquiry. We will train our eyes for
observations, practice forming ecological questions and testable hypotheses, and design an
experiment.
You can do this activity anywhere on your own. Take a walk in your neighborhood, go to
nea
y parks, natural areas, or your own backyard. You can even do this inside your own
house (e.g. fridge?)! Find any living creatures and make observations.
I. Activities
Observations: In any natural areas you decide to visit, make at least 5 observations on
natural patterns and processes, and take notes. Write down anything you find interesting.
Don’t just look ahead—look above, look down, turn logs and rocks (but put them back when
you are done), turn leaves… You can make observations at a landscape-level (look around
the whole forest), or at a much smaller scale, like a single leaf.
Focus on the patterns—for example in Plenty Gorge Park, you may notice that after the
ushfire of 2019, some trees have already re-sprouted, while some haven’t. Do you see any
patterns as to which trees are re-sprouting? Write down as much details of your observations
as you can.
Questions: Once you’ve made an observation, think of a question you might want to ask.
There are three types/levels of questions:
1) “What” questions ask for information—e.g. “what species is this?”, “is this native or
non-native species?”. You can easily find out the answer by looking up the
information, so these are not very interesting kind of questions.
2) “Where/When/Which” questions ask for patterns—e.g. “which trees are re-
sprouting?”, “where do we find trees that did not re-sprout?”. These are important
questions for motivating your research, but may not be so interesting on their own.
3) “Why/How” questions ask for mechanisms—e.g. “how do trees re-sprout?”, “why do
trees differ in re-sprouting capacity?” These are the most interesting kind of inquiry in
my opinion, because after all, ecology is all about finding out how nature works.
You can also ask questions at multiple scales: A
oad, “big picture” question may address a
major issue in the field of ecology. For example, your observation about the re-sprouting
pattern could be put into the context of distu
ance and succession—e.g. “how does
distu
ance affect species diversity?” It’s important to identify the big picture of your study,
ut the question may be a bit too daunting to tackle by yourself!
Let’s be a bit more specific so that you can possibly address your question in your research
project. For example:
a. “How does bushfire alter plant species composition and demography?”
. “Why do trees differ in their ability to survive bushfire and re-sprout?”
c. “Why is this tree not re-sprouting?”
Question c is too specific that it would not appeal to a large audience. Question a would
perhaps require years of research. Question b seems not too
oad, and not too na
ow—just
ight. You can address this within a research project.
See if you can come up with Why/How questions for each observation that you made. Think
about questions that can be addressed in a single research project (day trip or a semester).
Write them down.
Hypotheses: a hypothesis is your explanation for why the observed pattern may exist. In
other words, a hypothesis describes the mechanism behind the pattern. It is NOT the pattern
itself.
Let’s come up with the hypotheses for the question, “Why do trees differ in their ability to
survive bushfire and re-sprout?”. Maybe it is because different tree species have different
levels of tolerance to fire (i.e. species are differently adapted to fire). Alternatively, the size
of trees (regardless of the species identity) might determine their ability to re-sprout because
they differ in the amount of resources stored in trunks and roots. Another possibility is…well
you can come up with many alternative hypotheses for this.
For each question, formulate your own hypotheses. Think of as many hypotheses as you can
and write them down.
Experimental Design: Select one Observation/Question/Hypothesis to further develop
your research. Design an experiment/survey to test your specific hypothesis. As an example,
let’s take a look at the hypothesis that “trees differ in re-sprouting capacity because they
differ in size and the amount of resources stored in trunks
oots necessary for re-sprouting”.
How can we test this hypothesis? Perhaps one can estimate the level of re-sprouting for each
tree, and see if that co
elates with the size of the tree (DBH: tree diameter at
east height).
Alternatively, you can compare DBH of trees that re-sprouted and trees that did not. Does it
equire a control? If so, what would that be? How many trees should you sample? What is
your prediction (i.e. what outcome would support your hypothesis)?
II. Report
You will write a short research proposal based on one of the observations you made during
your “field trip” (out of 100). The report should be no more than 3 pages, single-spaced.
The report should include the following:
1. Title of your proposed research (5 points). The title should be concise and to the
point. What do you intend to investigate?
2. Detailed description of observations you made on one natural phenomenon/
process/pattern (1 paragraph/10 points). Description should be written clearly and
concisely.
3. Your research question based on the above observation (1 sentence/10 points)—
provide a specific question that can be addressed in the scope of one research project
(e.g. a semester or a year). Ask a “Why/How?” (mechanisms) question.
4. Your hypotheses (1 paragraph/20 points)—provide one main hypothesis that you
propose to test, and as many alternative hypotheses you can think of. The hypothesis
should directly address your question above.
5. Experimental design (1-2 paragraphs/20 points)—design an experiment/survey to test
your main hypothesis. Describe 1) your contrasts (control and treatments?), 2) sample
size (number of replicates per treatment), and 3)
iefly explain how you take
measurements. Be creative. You are not limited with equipment, so you can propose
to use whatever methods necessary, as long as they sound reasonable.
6. Your predictions (1 paragraph/10 points)—describe the predicted outcome of your
experiment if your hypothesis was to be supported. Provide figure(s) of predicted
patterns.
7. Find at least two journal articles that address your main question/hypothesis (1
paragraph/20 points). Briefly describe what they found. Discuss how these papers
elate to your proposal—did they suggest alternative hypotheses that you hadn’t
thought of? Did their results support your hypothesis? Provide full references of the
above articles (5 points).
You can find journal articles directly through RMIT li
ary (https:
www.rmit.edu.au/li
ary)
or search for articles in Google Scholar (https:
scholar.google.com/) and obtain them through
RMIT li
ary.