Field Techniques For Biologists

Question 1

Hazards in fieldwork?

Answer 1

• Adverse weather conditions
• Difficult terrain
• Problems associated with isolation
• Contact with harmful organisms

Question 2

Risk?

Answer 2

The likelihood of harm arising from exposure to a hazard.

Question 3

What is a risk assessment?

Answer 3

Involves identifying control measures to minimise risk

Question 4

Control measures include?

Answer 4

Appropriate…
- Equipment
- Clothing
- Footwear
- Means of communication

Question 5

Sampling should be carried out in a manner that…

Answer 5

Minimises impact on wild species and habitats

Question 6

Consideration must be given to…

Answer 6

Rare and vulnerable species and habitats that are protected by legislation.

Question 7

What is a point count?

Answer 7

It involves the observer recording individuals seen from a fixed point count location. This can be compared to other point count locations or with data from the same location gathered at other times.

Question 8

What are quadrats or transects used for?

Answer 8

Plants and other sessile or slow moving organisms

Question 9

What capture techniques are used for mobile species?

Answer 9

Traps and nets

Question 10

How can elusive species be sampled?

Answer 10

Directly using camera traps or an indirect method such as scat sampling.

Question 11

Random sampling?

Answer 11

Members of the population have an equal chance of being selected.

Question 12

Stratified sampling?

Answer 12

The population is divided into categories that are sampled proportionally

Question 13

Systematic sampling?

Answer 13

Members of the population are selected at regular intervals.

Question 14

Identification of an organism can be made using?

Answer 14

Classification guides, biological keys, or analysis of DNA or protein

Question 15

Organisms can be classified by both…

Answer 15

Taxonomy and phylogenetics

Question 16

What is taxonomy?

Answer 16

Involves the identification and naming of organisms and their classification into groups based on shared characteristics.

Question 17

What is phylogenetics?

Answer 17

The study of the evolutionary history and relationships among individuals or groups of organisms.

Question 18

What does phylogenetics use?

Answer 18

Heritable traits such as morphology, DNA sequences, and protein structure to make inferences about an organism’s evolutionary history and create a phylogeny (or phylogenetic tree)

Question 19

What is a phylogenetic tree?

Answer 19

Diagrammatic hypothesis of its relationships to other organisms.

Question 20

What can genetic evidence reveal?

Answer 20

Relatedness obscured by divergent or convergent evolution.

Question 21

What does familiarity with taxonomic groupings allow?

Answer 21

Predictions and inferences to be made about the biology of an organism’s evolutionary history from better known (model) organisms

Question 22

Examples of taxonomic groupings?

Answer 22

Nematodes, arthropods and chordates

Question 23

What are model organisms?

Answer 23

Those that are easily studied or have been well studied.

Question 24

Which model organisms have been important in the advancement of modern biology?

Answer 24

Bacterium - ecoli
Flowering plant - Arabidopsis thaliana
Nematode - C elegans
Arthropod - Drosophilia melanogaster (fruit fly)
Chordates - Mice, rats and zebrafish.

Question 25

What can information obtained from model organisms be used for?

Answer 25

It can be applied to other species that are more difficult to study directly.

Question 26

What does presence, abscence or abundance of indicator species give information of?

Answer 26

Environmental qualities - such as presence of a pollutant.

Question 27

Susceptible and favoured species can be used to?

Answer 27

Monitor an ecosystem.

Question 28

What does abscence or reduced population indicate?

Answer 28

The species is susceptible to some factor in the environment.

Question 29

What does abundance or increased population indicate?

Answer 29

The species is favoured by the conditions

Question 30

Describe the procedure of mark and recapture?

Answer 30

1) A sample of the population is captured and marked (M) and released. 2) After an interval of time, a second sample is captured (C) 3) if some of the individuals in this second sample are recaptured (R), then the total population N=MC/R

Question 31

What does this method of mark and recapture assume?

Answer 31

- All individuals have an equal chance of capture - There is no immigration or emigration - individuals that are marked and released can mix fully and randomly with the total population.

Question 32

Name some methods of marking animals?

Answer 32

- Banding - Tagging - Surgical implantation - Painting - Hair clipping

Question 33

What must the method of marking and subsequent observation do?

Answer 33

Minimise the impact on the study species.

Question 34

What is ethology?

Answer 34

The study of animal behaviour

Question 35

What are the measurements used to quantify animal behaviour?

Answer 35

Latency, frequency and duration.

Question 36

What is latency?

Answer 36

Time between stimulus occurring and response behaviour

Question 37

What is frequency?

Answer 37

Number of times a behaviour occurs within the observation period.

Question 38

What is duration?

Answer 38

The length of time each behaviour occurs during the observation period.

Question 39

What does an ethogram allow?

Answer 39

Construction of time budgets.

Question 40

What is an ethogram?

Answer 40

Lists species specific behaviours to be observed and recorded in the study.

Question 41

What can be calculated in the time budget?

Answer 41

Recording the duration of each behaviours in the ethogram, together with the total time of observation, allows the proportion of time spent on each behaviour to be calculated.

Question 42

What is anthropomorphism?

Answer 42

When animals are credited with human emotions and qualities.

Question 43

Why is it important to avoid anthropomorphism when analysing animal behaviour?

Answer 43

It can lead to invalid conclusions.