Bio Practical 2 (behavior, climate change)

confidence determination, r^2

indicator of how good fit of trendline is

kinesis

movement that is completely random, does not result in directed movement with respect to stimulus

response

pattern of nerve impulses directed by CNS and sequence of muscle contractions that they initiate

climate change

persistent departure from climatic averages

list 3 examples of ways animals of the same spp communicate with one another

visual signs; feather displays, body language chemical signs: pheromones auditory signals: bird songs, chirps

climate vs weather

weather is short term, climate is a region's average weather over a long period of time

is the mean annual temp in CT changing? how fast?

mean annual temp appears to be roughly the same. slight increase by .0267 degrees/year

how do we look for evidence of climate change in CT?

recording averages of fires, precip, temps, etc over period of time, see how spp respond

neural integration

stimuli are evaluated by central nervous system, which then determines the response response is one that has evolved through nat selection, is adaptive and usually favors survival

what components can behavior be broken into?

stimuli, neural integration, response

ethology

study of animal behavior

observations of brine shrimp in white light

swim in all directions, fairly slow majority in center/near bottom advantage of position: more chances of each indiv finding food

phenology

the study of timing of seasonal/cyclical biological phenomena

taxis

Movement toward or away from a stimulus.

would temp data be more or less variable if we looked at all of new england vs just CT?

less variable due to larger sample size

niche

set of envrion conditions/resources under such which spp experiences and pop grows

describe slope of flowering dates

slope was small and negative, meaning it decreases slightly in flowering date every year, or flowers earlier

did recent records from herbarium indicate an earlier flowering?

yes

what do you conclude from air test on elephant calls?

elephants use sound waves that travel through the air to gain knowledge abt surroundings/communicate with one another

stimuli

initiates behavior, detected by sensory receptors may originate from sources external to org or from internal conditions

innate behavior

instinctive behavior that are carried out regardless of prior experience

what determines the complexity of behavior?

intricacy of stimuli, neural integration, response

color of light and response of brine shrimp

white light: towards light blue light: no response green light: movement towards light red light: movement towards light

is a spp is sensitive to climatic variables, that does this mean in context of climate change?

changing climate may make unsuitable/uninhabitable areas for plant, may cause extinciton

would trends look clearer at 10 yr stretch or 500 yr stretch?

clearer at 500 yr stretch b/c more data

herbarium

collection/library of preserved plant specimens

what is plausible explanation for why elephants respond differently to ground/air signals?

hear alarm call, know predator must be close. sense one, know threat is farther away

what conclusions can you draw about data with brine shrimp? does behavior depend on wavelength?

yes, behavior depends on wavelength. brine shrimp tend to move towards light of longer wavelengths. this may be because blue light (smaller wavelengths) are reflected by water and do not pass through, whereas longer wavelengths do

did every spp respond in the same way?

most had same general pattern, spring plants flowered earlier and fall plants flowered later this happened due to rising temps. impt for plant because may impact ability to be pollinated

predict what will happen when shaker is turned on if elephants communicate only by air sounds

no response will be given, elephants spend same amt of time at watering hole as do when no signal presented

what type of behaviors were observed with the brine shrimp?

orientation behaviors

which behaviors are most difficult to study?

those modified by learning

is your plant spp confined to small region or widespread? what does this tell us about its ability to tolerate diff climate conditions?

widespread, so able to tolerate a variety. confinement to small region means has specific parameters can thrive in, less able to change with climate

what is ethology concerned with?

everything animals do and how they do it ex: movement, sound production, learning

describe how you would design an experiment to determine if elephants can detect/interpret calls of others through ground

1. set up system that emits sound waves that match elephant calls. 2. choose call that produces distinct response. 3. test call above gorund, see if elephants produce desired response to it 4. system placed underground in same area, observe elephants to see if behave similarly or differently than when it was played in air 5. have experimental and control grp for both experiments

provide an example of each component of communication from elephant study

1. signal: alarm call from shaker/microphone 2. transmission: when played through medium 3. signal receipt: when it passes through elephant ear/feet 4. interpretation: elephant leaves water hole

hypothesis for brine shrimp movement to different wavelengths

If the brine shrimp display positive phototaxis to a color, then they will move toward the light of that wavelength

how might changes in these other conditions affect plants? how do we look for evidence in other conditions affecting plants?

all changes diminish growth except increasing co2. this will increase growth, but only if other factors do not kill plant first. co2 will build up if plants being affected by other climate conditions. look for evidence of this based on co2 levels in spring vs winter and extinction rates of spp

orientation behaviors

behaviors that place the animal in its most favorable environment

what do you conclude from results of ground elephant experiment?

elephants use ground vibrations to communicate over long distances, but air is for nearby. sound waves in air are higher freq than those underground, so can only hear them in close. if heard, know trouble is nearby. if feel vibrations of underground signal, know something is going on but it may/may not directly affect them

temperature anomaly

how different temperature is from reference point (ie previous temp)

why should we be concerned plants are flowering earlier than used too?

if bloom too early, cold snap (or hot snap) could kill, also diminishes access to pollinators

describe relationship btwn temp and flowering time in spp. is this expected?

in past 100 yrs, avg temp increased, makes spp flower faster. is expected because when plants think warm season has started, they flower. if gets warmer earlier, will flower earlier

how might a native plant and introduced plant adapt to climate change

introduced plants adapt to climate change better because never adapted to old climate, only have new climate to thrive in. native plants adapted to old climate, must "catch up" to new weather/precip/temps

Is CT experiencing any change in mean annual precip?

relatively constant, yearly fluctuations

What graph best describes results of elephant experiment?

the one that shows longest amt time when no signal, medium time with ground signal and shortest time spent with air signal