NRM 3407 - FINAL EXAM (IN PROGRESS)

Wildlife biologists use results of descriptive research to generate research ____________________ .

hypotheses

Male frogs and toads are typically _______________ than the females.

smaller

Applied wildlife research is usually related to a ___________________ problem.

management

Most wildlife species have individuals who are believed to ___________________ during their life cycle.

disperse

Presence of the hemi-penis and/or swollen base of the tail can be used to confirm a/n _______________ lizard or snake.

male

Population index is a statistic that is related to population ___________________ .

size

_______________________________ requires that every sample unit in the population has an equal chance of being drawn in the sample

simple random sampling

Territorial behavior can _________________ numbers of animals in an area and therefore regulate populations.

restrict

Bias is the amount of inaccuracy in ___________________ for an analysis.

estimates

Primaries are numbered from ___________________________ .

most proximal to most distal

A standard tooth is needed for the process called ____________________ because eruption times vary between different teeth.

cementum annuli

Most DNA studies in vertebrate species now focus on either microsatellite markers or _______________________ .

DNA sequences

Rattlesnake age _________________ be determined based on number of rattle buttons.

can not

The importance of appropriate sampling cannot be over-emphasized when considering ____________________ .

data analysis

___________________ refers to the number of independent, random sample units drawn from the research population.

sample size

Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are implanted viscerally using special syringe.

false

Precision is the closeness to each other of measurements of different quantity.

false

Both male and female pronghorns have horns.

true

Congress passed the Animal Right Law in 1966 and strengthened the law through amendments in 1970, 1976, 1985, and 1990.

false

Paired sampling is a powerful tool for detecting differences.

true

Controls must be the same as experimental units except they are not treated.

true

In some lizard species, the female is more conspicuously colored than the male.

false

Wildlife profession is mostly built on natural history observations.

true

Whole-genome DNA hybridization was used for phylogeny reconstruction in mammals mostly in 1990s.

true

Presence of the hemipenes and/or swollen base of the tail can be used to confirm a male lizard or snake.

true

Plastron of male turtles tends to be convex whereas female plastron is concave.

false

The operating principle of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is based on Animal Rights philosophy.

true

Standard deviation is an index of how closely the individual data points cluster around the mean.

true

Full adult plumage of birds is reached in 1-2 weeks in Mourning Dove.

false

One of the assumptions of distance sampling techniques is that individuals are not frightened away from or attracted to the line or point before being detected.

true

Most research in wildlife biology prior to 1985 was _______________________________ in nature.

descriptive

______________________ _______________________ regulates capture and marking of migratory birds and threatened and endangered species.

federal government

Increases in sample size can increase _______________________ of estimates.

precision

___________________ ducks can be identified by the speculum of their wings.

dabbling

Breeding male frogs and toads develop rough ______________________ _______________ on the inner fingers.

nuptial pads

Controls must be the same as experimental units except they are not ___________________ .

treated

________________________ are needed because it is too cumbersome to report the entire list of data.

statistics

Difficulties in wildlife research lies in controlling _____________________ factors.

causal

The most widely studied DNA sequence in the study of mammalian species is that of the ____________________________________ molecule.

mitochondrial DNA

_____________ ___________________ technique involves recording the behavioral state (e.g. resting, feeding, grooming, moving) of each animal in a small group at predetermined block of time.

scan sampling

How do you differentiate between descriptive and experimental research? (2 points)

Descripitive research is research that is gained by simple observation, while experimental research is gained by performing an experiment by giving a certain group a treatment and having a control group.

Write down the 6 main steps of scientific research that we discussed in the class

The six main steps of the scientific method are identifying a problem, formulating a hypothesis, doing a pilot study to gain knowledge and ensure you aren't reinventing the wheel, performing the experiment, analysing your data, and finally ensuring your experiment is replicatable to reduce bias.

How do you define Sampling?

Sampling is defined as the individuals points collected that represent a larger population. The four main sampling techniques in wildlife biology are simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sampling, and point sampling.

Discuss in details at least 4 main types of sampling techniques to study wildlife species.

Simple random sampling is when each sample is truly random, such as using a random number generator. Systematic sampling is when the first point is randomly selected, then each point after that first point follows a pattern. Stratified random sampling is when the population is grouped into different stratas, such as animals that live near the water and animals that line in the forest, then individuals are randomly selected from these strata. Point sampling is when points are placed throughout an area, then random points are taken.

How do you define 'variance' and 'standard deviation'

Variance is the average of the spread of data points around the mean, while standard deviation is the spread of how closely individual data points cluster around the mean

Briefly discuss 3 of the following 4 research techniques. (1.5 X 3 = 4.5 plus .5 for example/s) 

i) Radio-tracking: 

ii) Transect survey:

iii) Focal animal sampling: 

iv) Camera trapping:

A transect survey is when you walk along a transect line slowly and observe all of the animals you can see from the line. Some assumptions of this are that distance and angle measurements are accurate, animals are not attracted to or afraid of the line, all animals on the line are detected, and sighting events are independent.

Focal animal sampling is when you chose one animal in a group and observe its behavior for a period of time. You will take note of when this animal sleeps, eats, and plays.

Camera trapping is a non-invasive way of tracking animals by setting up cameras. These cameras will capture images of the animals that pass it by. This is especially useful for large mammals in areas with a lot of vegetation, so you have lots of places to put the cameras. Some downsides of camera trapping are the costs and the time it takes to sort through all of the footage.

what is a geographic information system

a system used for storing, analyzing, and visualizing spatial data to support mapping and decision making

what is the key idea of GIS

integration and analysis

what is remote sensing

the collection of information about the earth's surface without direct contact, typically using satellites, drones, or aircraft sensors

what is the key idea of remote sensing

data collection at large scales

what is the key idea of GPS based wildlife tracking

animal movement data

four sets of capabilities of GIS

input, data management, manipulation and analysis, and output

what are the two components of spatial data

a geographic reference and an attribute

what 3 general features of data within a GIS must be maintained

information on teh position of the feature being stored, topological information on the spatial relationships of the features, and attributes of the feature

two ways spatial data can be represented

rasters and vectors

what is a raster format

a grid used to represent an area, the location of the features in the area are depicted by values in the cells overlaying the features

what is vector data

data that represents geographic features by coordinates of points, lines, and polygons

how is raster data stored in the computer

as a matrix

is a raster system 2 or 3 dimentional

2

polygon table

describes the arcs that bound each polygon

node topology table

describes the arcs that end at each of the nodes

arc topology table

describes which end points (nodes) occur on each arc and which polygons are to the left and right of each arc

point

represented by a simple pair of coordinates

line

represented by an ordered list of pairs of coordinates

when is an area represented as a polygon

when the ordered pairs of coordinates close the polygon

is vector or raster continuous or discrete

raster is continuous, vector is discrete

is raster or vector data simple or complex

raster is simple data, vector is complex

what data type represents data in cells or a grid matrix

raster

which data type represents data using sequential points or vertices

vector

every grid in raster data has a _____

unique value

models that predit species potential distributions by combining what

occurence reccords and digital layers of envionrnmental variables

how to estimate an unknown distribution

determain what you know (constraints) and amoung distributions satisfy constrains (outpout the one with maximum entropy (how much choice is involved in the selection of an event))

are things more or less spread out with more entropy

more

niche theory

animals will naturally find the spot that they are most comfortable in

what type of species distribution data is the most reliable

presence only

presence-only approach to data

only requires presence records, gives equal weight to all variables, has no extrapolations

presence/pseudo-absences algorithms

computationally intensive, poor at interpreting categorical data

basic maxent principle

to estimate unknown probability distrubution of a species based on a small sample of present distribution data

modeling species distributions

models that predict species potential distributions by combining known occurence records with digital layers of enviornmental variables

applications of modeling species distributions

impacts of climate change, guiding survey methods, invasive species, conservation management, ecology of niche

task of a probability distribution

to estimate the unknown probability distribution of the species of intrest

2nd law of thermodynamics

without external influences, a system moves to increase entropy

examples of false absences

the species was not detected even though it was present, species was absent even though the climate is suitable

what is the best type of species distribution data

presence/background

what software is the best

maxent

georeferencing

putting a physical description of a location when you dont have a gps

radiotelemetry

a technique for determining the location of animals through the use of a radio reciever and directional antenna

two main advantages of radio telemetry

allows precise identification of individual animals with different frequencies, allows biologists to locate each individual as often as desired

what has ver high frequency (VHF) provided

novel information about animal locations and movements in remote locations, inhopsitable habitats, and inclement weather

what radio telemetry frequency do we use

148-152 MHz (megahurtz)

frequency

the number of times a signal vibrates in one second

in sine wave, one full cycle is defined as the

portion of the curve between two identical points

164 MHz is how many cycles per second

164 million

nuclear genome

biparentally inherited, found in cell nucleus, evolves slowly

mitochondrial genome

maternally inherited, much smaller than nuclear genome, evolves quickly

polymerase chain reaction

a region of DNA is targeted and amplified exponentially

DNA sequencing

targeting a certain region of the genome, amplifying it, and reading the DNA sequence in that region

two most common and applied species concepts

biological and phylogenetic spcies concept

does the biological or phylogenetic species concert emphasize reproductive isolation

biological species concept

does the biological or phylogenetic species concert use the criteria of reciprocal monophyly and rely solely on genetic data

phylogenetic species concept