Complete the following steps, create the required figure, and compile the answers to the following questions in a 2-3 page (double spaced) text + figures (which don’t count towards pages of text)word doc (.doc or .docx) report. (Consider the necessary sections of a report and utilze them to keep your report organized). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | Calculate means and standard errors for the two environments: (1) the stream food web without exotic fish (2) stream food web with exotic fish. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Create a single bar graph which conveys changes in the system before/after introduction of invasives. Include appropriately labeled/formated axis, legend, title, figure caption, and error bars. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Draw the structure (many options for format/media:ppt, biorender, paint, etc.) of the food web under both scenarios. (This will require one vertical axis with the organisms placed at associated 15N value.) HINT: There are a couple of ways you could draw this that are all supported by the data. You will be graded on your reasoning and fit.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Explain your reasoning or any assumptions you made in constructing the figure for number 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Based on this example, what are some possible effects of exotic fish on the structure of stream food webs? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Who does it appear that the exotic fish are feeding on? Justify your answer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Trophic relationships are not the only thing that can be determined from N isotope analysis. For example, Helfield and Naiman (2001) used these data to help determine Nitrogen cycling between marine and land systems caused by salmon spawning. The authors briefly discuss (in the Results/Discussion section) other hypotheses to explain elevated foliar nitrogen and lower C: N ratios – (those other than marine and salmon-derived). Briefly describe these other hypotheses and how the authors account for them as non-contributing mechanisms to increased foliar N. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | That paper is a correlative study and there could be other factors that influence foliar N in addition to what the authors account for in the previous question. Briefly describe how you would design a manipulative experiment (field or lab-based) to test the effects of salmon-derived nitrogen on riparian zones. |