MARIA FRANCEout FAISAN

Name__________________________________

Lab Section__________________________________

Exercise 13 Worksheet

Population Size Estimates (Activity 2)

Go to the following website for a virtual mark-recapture simulation (address also linked in the lab
powerpoint):
http://virtualbiologylab.org/NetWebHTML_FilesJan2016/PopulationEstimationModel.html

1. Choose the following settings:

Pond size: Medium
Population size: Large
Net size: Medium
2. C c eb a a Se , e c c G
3. C c eb a a D Ne a e f a e. Below the tank, you will see
T a B c e that is the number of fish you caught during this first sampling event. (Mt)
Record this value in the table below.
4. C c eb a a Ma a f ef b c e a e a ed. (T e b a
a Ma ed B c e d ac T a B c e )
5. Click the button that says Re ea e a d e f e a f a ea 10
seconds.
6. C c eb a a D Ne a e ec d a e. H a a e
a e a ed? (L a eb a a Ma ed B c e ). T Mr. Record this value
e ab e be . H a a eae a ed? (Y eed b ac Ma ed
B c e f T a B c e ). T Uc. Record this value in the table below.
7. Calculate your estimated population size using the formula from your lab manual (SHOW
YOUR WORK!)
8. Repeat steps 2 7 af e c a g g e g Ne e: La ge

Medium Net Large Net

Number of Fish Marked
and Released (Mt) 22 57
Number of Marked Fish
1
Captured (Mr) 10
Number of Unmarked Fish
Captured (Uc) 24 39
Estimated Population Size
(N) 25 49
Show your work for your population size estimation calculations here:

25=224+297/22 49=5740+397/57
 Trophic Structure and Food Webs (Activity 1)
Choose one of the communities from your lab manual (page 180 marsh, desert, temperate
woodland, or prairie) and draw the food web for that community below. You must include all
organisms listed in your lab manual. Use arrows to indicate the direction of food / energy flow.
Please note that most organisms should have more than one arrow going to and/or from it.
Parasites like mosquitoes and ticks should be connected to any organism on which they feed or
suck blood. Once your food web is complete, use it to answer the questions on the next page.
DIVERT FOOD WEB

7080M

f÷i÷÷¥*÷÷
BACTERIA
✓ HAWK

¥3 ¥3 -

.
s
If Grass

Detects
#
 Using your food web on the previous page, answer the following questions:

1. What would happen if one of the plant species went extinct?

OR RAT
IT WOULD LIMIT ANIMALS LIKE RABBIT
COULD SEND ANOTHER
TO PLANT SPECIES IT
ONLY 2
.

SPECIES TO EXTINCTION LIKE OTHER PLANTS

SINCE EVERY CONSUMER WOULD TARGET THE SAME
SPECIES .

2. What would happen if one of the insect species went extinct?

OF
THERE WOULD BE OVERPOPULATION

PLANTS & EXTINCTION OF

SECONDARY CONSUMER .

3. What would happen if one of the upper level predator species went extinct?
THERE WOULD BE AN OVERPOPULATION
IN IN THE SPECIES
LOWER LEVEL
WHICH WOULD LEAD TO EXTINCTION OR LIMITATION of
EVEN LOWER SPECIES LIKE PLANTS .

4. What would happen if the decomposers went extinct?

THERE would BE NO PLANT SPECIES

5. How many species in your food web would be impacted by the change in abundance of just
one species?

3
 Community Variation (Activity 3)
Use the photos on the PowerPoint slides and Table 13.4 to answer the following questions.

Biodiversity Comparison #1
Which fungus community has the greatest biodiversity? Explain your answer using the terms
c e a d e e e .

COM B •
IT HAD 4 SPECIES IN

TERMS OF & HAD

RICHNESS
3 OF EYERU SPECIES IN TERMS OF EVENED
Biodiversity Comparison #2
Which forest community has the greatest biodiversity? Explain your answer.

COM B

Biodiversity Comparison #3
Which community has the greatest biodiversity within the circular plot? Explain your answer.

COMA HAD GREATEST BIODIVERSITY .

IT HAD THE MOST AMOUNT OF RICHNESS

IN TERMS OF # OF SPECIES &
FEAR AN
EVEN AMOUNT OF EACH SPECIES
,

In general, would resources be utilized most completely in a community with few species but
roughly equal numbers of individuals or in a community with lots of species but strongly
dominated by one? Why?
& EQUAL #S
FEW SPECIES
COMMUNITY IS
BECAUSE IF A

DOMINATED BY SPECIES IT COULD

ONE
LEAD TO EXTINCTION OR OVERPOPULATION
OF OTHERS .