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Forest Fragments

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Forest Fragments – Assignment Questions

The ‘Forest Fragments’ Assignment is an individual assignment, completed and submitted individually to the dropbox

PART II: Data Interpretation (9 marks)
Examine the data you collected and the calculations you made to answer the following questions:

2.1 What extra information is included in the Shannon’s Diversity Index (vs. richness), and how is this information useful? Why would a scientist use Shannon’s Diversity Index in addition to a richness value? (2 marks)
Shannon’s Diversity Index accounts for not only the number of species in a habitat (species richness) but also the evenness of the species within that same habitat.
A scientist would use Shannon’s Diversity Index in addition to a richness value because the richness value does not depict the evenness of the habitat, whereas Shannon’s Diversity Index shows both the species richness and the evenness.

2.2 Compare the richness value for your plot with the richness value based on the data collected from all the groups in your Seminar section. Now compare the richness value based on the data collected from all the groups in your Seminar section to the richness value for the entire Dairy Bush (found in the spreadsheet). Explain why these three richness values might be different. (2 marks)
The richness value for my plot was a lot less than the richness value collected for my seminar section. The richness value for my seminar section was less than the richness value for the entire dairy Bush.
These three richness values may be different because the size of the areas where the richness values were measured was not the same. For example, the area of the entire Dairy Bush is much greater than the area all the groups in my seminar section covered to measure species richness.

2.3 Look at the professional data provided for your plots and the figure you created in excel. Describe the edge effect at the Dairy Bush in relation to species richness observed at the edge, and the interior of the Dairy Bush. (2 marks)
There is definitely a difference in number of species at the edge of the Dairy Bush in relation to the interior of the Dairy Bush, which is reffered to as edge effect. In the dairy bush, there are a greater species richness at the edge of the Dairy Bush than there are at the interior of the Diary Bush.

2.4 Describe what biotic and abiotic factors might be causing the observed effect on species richness at the edge of the Dairy Bush, and explain the processes involved. (3 marks)
Abiotic factors that might cause the observed effect on species richness are light and wind. There is a greater amount of light at the forest’s edge, which can allow more species that are dependent on light to grow at the forest’s edge. There is usually a greater amount of wind at the forest’s edge than the interior of the forest because the interior of a forest is denser than the edge of the forest. The increased wind at the edge of the forest may allow for a greater distribution of plant seeds, therefore more seeds are distributed at the forest’s edge than the interior forest which causes a greater species richness at the forest edge.
A biotic factor that might cause the observed effect on species richness at the edge of the dairy Bush is humans. While in the Dairy Bush I noticed that there were a lot more trails created by humans within the Diary Bush, whereas at the edge of the Diary Bush there was usually one main place where humans entered. The greater number of trails within the Diary Bush could have caused there to be less species within the Dairy Bush because the trails could have disturbed the areas where a species did grow or could have grown.

PART III: Summarizing primary literature (7 marks)
Find a paper from the primary literature that discusses the effect of habitat edges (edge effects), or forest fragmentation, or habitat patches on the ecology or diversity of a species, or group of species (plants/birds/insects/amphibians etc.). Briefly summarize by including each of the components listed below. Remember that the use of direct quotes is not allowed (see page 33 of your seminar manual).
Some studies are exploratory in nature and may not have hypotheses explicitly stated, or outcomes predicted. However you should be able to determine the purpose of the study in order to answer 3.3 and 3.4. If there are no predictions given, make your own reasonable prediction based on the background information.

3.1 Reference the paper (formatted correctly, following the style in the Writing Effectively Workshop. (2 marks)
Ogrzewalska, M., Uezu, A., Jenkins, C.N. and Labruna, M.B. Effect of forest fragmentation on tick infestations of birds and tick infection rates by Rickettsia in the Atlantic forest of Brazil. Ecohealth. 8(3), 320-33 (2011).

3.2 The direct observations or knowledge from published literature that motivated the present study. (1 mark)
The risk of species extinction is increased by the loss of biodiversity which is caused by habitat loss and fragmentation. Other outcomes, such as the emergence of an infectious disease, may be triggered by habitat loss, fragmentation and the loss of biodiversity. The fourth most threatened biodiversity hotspot in the world is the Atlantic Forest; therefore the loss of biodiversity is critical here. As well, any intense changes to the forest, as well as the large population of people living around the area, provoke the emergence/re-emergence of diseases.

3.3 The question(s) posed by the researchers. (1 mark)
Is the diversity of forest birds influenced by sizeinfragmented areas of the Atlantic Forest?
What effects do the prevalence of ticks on birds and the Rickettsial infection of these ticks have on the habitat?

3.4 The hypothesis tested. If the hypothesis is not explicitly stated then provide the goals/aims of the study. (1 mark)
The hypotheses tested is that bird diversity and richness is influenced by forest fragment size, the prevalence of ticks on birds is influenced by the richness, diversity and abundance of birds and that the prevalence of Rickettsia infection rates in ticks is influenced by the richness and diversity of birds.

3.5 The predicted outcome of the test if they are explicitly stated, or your reasonable predictions if not stated. (1 mark)
I predict that the diversity and richness of birds is influenced by a larger forest fragment size. As well, that as the diversity and richness of birds increases the prevalence of ticks and the prevalence of Rickettsia infection rates in ticks increases as well.

3.6 The results of the study. (1 mark)
The results of the study concluded that the larger the size of the forest fragment the greater the diversity and richness of birds was. There was an inverse correlation between the prevalence of ticks and the richness and diversity of birds, therefore, if there were a greater diversity in birds the prevalence of ticks would decrease. Finally, there was not statistical difference between forest patch sizes and the prevalence of the Rickettsia infection.

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