BIOL 2060 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Sea Urchin, Herbivore, Human Hunting
25 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Field studies of predations are more accurate than lab studies. Examples of study types: removal of predators, introduction of predators. Determine if predators have direct or indirect effect: direct: predators effect on the prey they are exploiting/preying on, indirect: one prey species experiences increased predation due to increased predator abundance when another prey species increases in abundance. Removal or control of predators: inclusion. Mesocosm and microscom experiments: small scale versions of natural environments used to study. Aquatic environment simulated in a pool keep it as constant with nature as possible. Predator removal: try to determine which predator has the greatest impact by removing one predator and keeping other present. Egg predation by skunks removing skunks improves nesting success. Repeat experiment with other egg predator species to determine if skunks have greatest impact. Ex. duck populations in prairies: red fox is the dominant egg predator, coyotes preys on eggs as well but less than fox.
