Part one: Tree measurements

Tree measurements: 75 - 36.5 36 - 32.7 34 32 31 79 229 -69 91 80 127 54 -89 377 -219 216
316 Mean: 117.01 Variance: 1.0211 x 10^4 Range: 346 Median: 79 There were 27 herbaceous plants in the quadrat, and variance > mean, this population exerts clumped distribution.

Part two: Bird Reproduction vs. Rainfall

Graph one: X Y 5 1.5 10 2.5 15 1.8 50 1.2 180 0.7 275 0.5

Graph one shows a both a positive and negative correlation between bird reproduction and rainfall. Between rainfall= 5 and 10, bird reproduction increases from 1.5 to 2.5 showing a positive correlation. However, after rainfalls increase and keep increasing, bird reproduction decreases significantly with each increase indicating a negative correlation between rainfall and bird reproduction.

Graph two:

X y

28 4

33 14

35 9

43 17

44 25

44 40

49 44

56 46

57 47

This graph shows us a positive correlation between both rainfall and bird reproduction. Bird reproduction increases as rainfall increases with only a negligible drop when rainfall is between 33 and 35. This drop could be a source of error in measuring reproduction and not actually represent a negative correlation between rainfall and bird reproduction.

Part three:
Species A: 10 - 2 - 8 1 2 5 9 4 5 - 16 - 8 Species B: 5 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 5 -5 - 6 - 4 5 - 5 Species C: 20 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 15 - 3 - 1 - 1 - 10 - 2- 2

Species Mean Variance A 6.363636 17.68595 B 5.181818 0.330579 C 5.272727 40.380165 In species A, variance is significantly > mean, therefore species A exerts a clumped distribution. In species B, variance is significantly < mean, therefore species B exerts regular or even distribution. In species C, variance is significantly > mean, therefore species C exerts a clumped distribution.

Conclusion: We have seen that there are various ways to determine the distribution pattern of species. The Variance/Mean ratio method focuses mainly on determining whether a species fits a randomly spaced distribution, but can also be used as evidence for either an even or clumped distribution. To utilize the Variance/Mean ratio method, data is collected from several random samples of a given population. The number of individuals present in each sample is compared to the expected counts in the case of random distribution. If the variance/mean ratio is equal to 1, the population is found to be randomly distributed. If it is significantly greater than 1, the population is found to be clumped distribution. Finally, if the ratio is significantly less than 1, the population is found to be evenly distributed. We also learnt how to use other statistical calculations in ecology and each of those calculations helped us interpret different phenomena.

P.s: I would have loved to have attended this lab to give a greater content in the report. I drew the graphs but my phones camera is not taking good pictures to post them here and also I dont have a scanner, so I opted for making the graphs on the computer, and they turned out a lot more clear and elegant.