Worksheet 2 – Patchy Prairies (100 points)

This worksheet is designed to help you create an outline for your scientific paper. This worksheet will guide you in writing the predictions for your “Introduction” section, as well as the majority of the “Methods” section of your paper. Recall the main purpose of the “Methods” section of any scientific article: to replicate the authors’ experiment, including details on the study area and organism, the experimental and sampling design, calculations, and statistical analyses.

Reminder: Follow the correct formatting for all worksheets (12 pt font, double-spaced, do not include original questions). All assignments should be matched to the question number. Incorrect formatting will result in a 5% penalty on this assignment.

Answer/address all of the following questions IN YOUR OWN WORDS . In all cases, we require that your work be typed. Plagiarism is unacceptable and will result in an automatic 0 on this assignment.

Part 1: Introduction (Continued)

The following two questions are part of your Introduction section.

1. Based on the readings that you completed to answer Assignment 1 as well as this week’s lecture, write predictions for how population size AND extinction rate will vary for stepping stone, patch enlargement, and corridor restoration methods compared to the current habitat configuration of River Ridges Reserve. Be specific and explain your reasoning. (12 pts)

2. Based on the readings that you completed to answer Assignment 1 as well as this week’s lecture, write predictions for how population size AND extinction rate will vary between stepping stone and the current habitat configuration of River Ridges Reserve during periodic fire disturbance. Be specific and explain your reasoning. (8 pts)

Part 2: Methods

The following questions are part of your Methods section.

3. Study Site and Organism:

a) What is the name of the study area? Where is it located? (3 pts)

b) For which species are you studying population dynamics? Include both the common name and the species name. (2 pts)

c) IN YOUR OWN WORDS , briefly describe the life cycle of the organism. (5 pts)

4. Briefly explain why you are using a simulation model for these experiments. (6 pts)

5. Simulation Model Parameters (Hint: all of these parameters are described in the SimBio workbook, but you should answer these questions IN YOUR OWN WORDS):

a) What are the two types of habitat included in the model? What is the main difference between these two types of habitats? Hint: Habitat TYPE is not the same as configuration/restoration method. (3 pts)

b) Why do butterflies head towards an area? Away from an area? (2 pts)

c) IN YOUR OWN WORDS , describe turning probability and leave probability. (4 pts)

d) Under what conditions do butterflies reproduce in the model, and how many offspring do they have? (4 pts)

e) Under what conditions do butterflies die in the model? (3 pts)

5. Briefly describe any limitations of your simulation model. (6 pts)

Research Question 1: Which habitat restoration method improves the population size and stability of Fender’s blue butterflies?

6. Is there a control for this experiment? If so, what is the control? (2 pts)

7. Describe the three types of habitat restoration methods that you are testing. (9 pts)

8. Draw a diagram of the three types of habitat restoration methods. You may use a photo of a diagram that you drew on a piece of paper or create an image in a program like Microsoft Word, Google Documents, PowerPoint, or Adobe Illustrator. Do NOT screenshot the SimBio virtual lab workspace. Include a figure legend below the diagram. (15 pts)

9. Experimental Design Parameters:

a) How many total hectares did you use for the habitat restoration methods? (1 pt)

b) How many weeks was the simulation model run for? How many runs per automation? (2 pts)

c) How many replicates were run for each habitat configuration? What is your total sample size? Hint: Total sample size is the number of groups x the number of replicates per group. Remember that your whole class is one research group, and you are writing the report based on your research group’s data collection, not just your own individual data points. (2 pts)

Research Question 2: Does habitat restoration improve population size and stability during prescribed burns?

10. Is there a control for this experiment? If so, what is the control? (2 pts)

11. Which habitat restoration method are you testing for efficacy against prescribed burns? (1 pt)

12. Briefly explain what periodic fire disturbance looks like in the simulation model and how often it occurs. (3 pts)

13. Experimental Design Parameters:

a) How many total hectares did you use for the habitat restoration method? (1 pt) We used 3 different types of hectares, Stepping stone, patch enlargement and corridor

How many weeks was the simulation model run for? How many runs per automation? (2 pts)

b) Set it to 100 weeks and20 runs.

c) How many replicates were run for each habitat configuration? What is your total sample size? (2 pts) 3 were run for each habitat configureation, my sample size is 80mm