Population Pyramids
Eugene's population is gradually decreasing, but there is a large populaton of 20-24 year-olds. This is the student population, attracted to Eugene because of University of Oregon.
Turlock's population is pretty stable, but gradually increasing because it is a good place to have kids.
Charleston's population is gradually decreasing, probably because the economy is declining and life quality grows poorer.
In Tonopah, the population is fairly unstable with a large population aged 50-60 and an uneven ratio of increasing young females to young males. Not many young independent people want to live here because there are not many job opportunities, however those who do continue to have children, probably because of the lack of education and depressed situation of the location.
Poughkeepsie has a slightly increasing population, with a huge student population related to Vassar and other colleges/universities.
Nashville has an increasing population because it is becoming a more trendy and highly desired place to live. There is a large population of students.
Data Snapshots
9-15-17
This shows what the weather was like, 16 years ago from last month.
In comparison to 16 years ago, there has actually been some cooling, especially in Texas, which is interesting because it seems like it should be increasing due to global warming.
The seemingly random location of the red spots of severe weather makes me wonder what the severe weather is that occurs here around June.
Heat is becoming more intense and is also expanding in size.
The drought seems to have moved inland, while reducing in Texas.
Dryness completely disappeared and precipitation increased a lot.
Species Diversity Lab
10-19-17
Total # of individuals = 83
Total # of species = 6
Shannon Diversity Index = 1.59
Total # of species = 6
Shannon Diversity Index = 1.59
Total # of individuals = 54
Total # of species = 5
Shannon Diversity Index = 1.57
Total # of species = 5
Shannon Diversity Index = 1.57
Post-Lab Questions
Identify the parking lot that was the most diverse.
The student parking lot (1.59 is greater than 1.57)
List the single most abundant species in each set of data, and write a plausible explanation to explain why these are the most abundant species.
Student parking lot: Gray- to teenagers, maybe gray is popular because it looks nice but isn't overly boring, or gray cars can be sold at affordable prices.
Staff parking lot: Gray- to adults, maybe gray seems like a nice color that isn't too flashy, or maybe it is easy to find and buy gray cars.
Determine the maximum and minimum values for the Shannon Diversity Index in the parking lot you surveyed.
Minimum: 0
Maximum: 1.8
If you conducted this lab in a shopping mall parking lot, predict whether the Shannon Diversity Index would be high or low, and how it would compare to the school parking lots.
If conducted in a shopping mall parking lot, the Shannon Diversity Index would increase in comparison to the school parking lots.
If you conducted this lab at a new car dealership, predict whether the Shannon Diversity Index would be high or low, and how it would compare to the school parking lots.
If conducted at a new care dealership, the Shannon Diversity Index would increase in comparison to the school parking lots.
Wooly Worm Lab
10/31/17
What were the degrees of freedom used in this exercise?
6
What is the calculated chi-square (χ2) value?
79.23
Do your results indicate that it was chance alone that caused the unequal numbers of capture wooly worm phenotypes? Explain.
It was probably not chance alone that led to the results regarding phenotypes because some were collected more than others, especially depending on their coloration.
Which colors of worms were subjected to a positive selection pressure? Which colors of worms were subjected to a negative selection pressure? Explain.
The tiny, green worms were subjected to a positive selection pressure, and the colorful worms that did not blend into the grass were subjected to negative selection pressure.
What do these results indicate might happen over time to this wooly worm population?
This indicates that the green worms would be naturally selected to continue to populate and evolve instead of the non-camouflaged ones.
Consider feeding times, feeding habits, ability to see color, vision acuity, and other possible characteristics of predatory birds in nature. How might such characteristics determine selection of certain worm
colors?
Different predatory behaviors could determine the selection of a certain worm. If a predator eats at night, then day worms would have an advantage. Depending on its claws/beak, certain sizes of worms might be more likely to live. The abilities to see color would decide which colors of worms were subjected to prey.
Consider the school grounds upon which you “fed” on your wooly worms. If this particular environment remained unchanged over a very long period of time, how would the populations change? What would the community look like in ten years?
The population of green worms would rapidly increase and the population of the colorful worms would rapidly decrease.
6
What is the calculated chi-square (χ2) value?
79.23
Do your results indicate that it was chance alone that caused the unequal numbers of capture wooly worm phenotypes? Explain.
It was probably not chance alone that led to the results regarding phenotypes because some were collected more than others, especially depending on their coloration.
Which colors of worms were subjected to a positive selection pressure? Which colors of worms were subjected to a negative selection pressure? Explain.
The tiny, green worms were subjected to a positive selection pressure, and the colorful worms that did not blend into the grass were subjected to negative selection pressure.
What do these results indicate might happen over time to this wooly worm population?
This indicates that the green worms would be naturally selected to continue to populate and evolve instead of the non-camouflaged ones.
Consider feeding times, feeding habits, ability to see color, vision acuity, and other possible characteristics of predatory birds in nature. How might such characteristics determine selection of certain worm
colors?
Different predatory behaviors could determine the selection of a certain worm. If a predator eats at night, then day worms would have an advantage. Depending on its claws/beak, certain sizes of worms might be more likely to live. The abilities to see color would decide which colors of worms were subjected to prey.
Consider the school grounds upon which you “fed” on your wooly worms. If this particular environment remained unchanged over a very long period of time, how would the populations change? What would the community look like in ten years?
The population of green worms would rapidly increase and the population of the colorful worms would rapidly decrease.