Questions tagged [ecology]
The study of the spatial and temporal patterns of the distribution and abundance of organisms, including causes and consequences (Scheiner, S.M. and Willig, M.R., 2008. A general theory of ecology. Theoretical Ecology, 1(1), pp.21-28. doi:10.1007/s12080-007-0002-0)
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Calculating basal area per acre from variable radius plots
I have a variable-radius forest inventory that contains diameter at breast height (DBH) and basal area factor (BAF) data for each tree. I'd like to calculate the basal area per acre, but since the ...
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How to correctly assess the impact of invasive species on a community using the diversity index?
How can the impact of invasive species on a community be correctly assessed using the diversity index if the abundance of the target species, i.e. the invasive species, is not used to calculate the ...
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Female mosquito fate in absence of food
What happens to female mosquitoes which want to lay egg but couldn't find mammal host for blood, will that mosquito simply die, if no mammals in area would mosquitoes will be absent too?
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How long does it take for a creature to adapt for a different diet?
For the sake of the question, let's say that a population of piscivorous birds are put in a Europe-sized box. Half of the box is sea, populated with their diet of fish and crabs and cephalopods, and ...
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Models of evolution by positive versus negative selection
I am making a program for simulating natural selection. Now, I have discovered an interesting difference between positive selection and negative selection.
Positive selection occurs when the ...
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In search of motivation (Examples from nature) for reaction-diffusion systems with a conservation law
I'm an applied mathematician with a huge interest in mathematical biology. While looking at this paper, I came across with the following:
Examples of reaction-diffusion systems (1)-(2), falling into ...
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How fast could the Amazon rainforest regrow after deforestation?
We hear a lot about clear-cutting of the Amazon rainforest and how that affects climate change. However, are there any studies on how fast areas of rainforest can regrow or the ecosystem can recover ...
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Converting m/s to body lengths / s
I am trying to calculate speed of fish in body lengths / s. As of now, I have speeds for each of my individuals in m/s. To convert each individual fish's speed in body lengths / s (bl/s; using each ...
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CO2 availability to phytoplankton in oceans and climate change impacts
I learned through research that increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 was increasing the acidity level of ocean waters. I then was looking into how this was affecting the phytoplankton and read that ...
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Evolution of Anoles
For context, I am currently looking at this virtual lab of Lizard Evolution by HHMI biointeractive.
Trunk anoles from an island called Iron Cay were placed in a few experimental islands filled with ...
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What is a partial regulator?
Source: MY textbook-NCERT 12th Biology-Ch: Organisms and Population
(Pg 7 of pdf/Pg 223 of the book)
Is this graph for Partial regulators correct? Isn't it that animals tend to be regulators first ...
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Ecosystem naming discrepancies between LANDFIRE ESP and GAP/LANDFIRE National Terrestrial Ecosystems 2011 Datasets
first post here! I am working on a project using the LANDFIRE ESP (environmental site potential) categories, and saw that on NatureServe Explorer I could find broader classifications for the ...
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How do Addax defend itself from predators?
The addax (Addax nasomaculatus) is a critically endangered antelope adapted to live in extreme desert conditions. It has long impressive horns that can potentially serve as a weapon because they are ...
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Why are polar seas rich with nutrients and plankton?
It is well known that baleen whales migrate to the polar seas to feed on plankton and krill (marine crustaceans). The question why are the polar seas rich with krill and plankton? If the answer "...
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Can bees find alternate sources of water which mosquitoes can't use?
I live in an area where mosquitoes are a disease vector of concern, and I was dutifully sweeping out a puddle when I noticed a lot of bees had gathered there to collect water.
Is this effort to ...
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Introduction of critically endangered South Asian species to South America
I have in mind in particular orangutans but don't want the question to be that specific, so the answers about other species will be equally welcome.
Orangutans are endangered or critically endangered ...
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What factors allow some species to outcompete species formed by the local environment and become invasive?
If an invasive species is introduced to a new environment, why can they outcompete local species in the same nische, if they specifically evolved in this local environment and are adapted to it, ...
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How to quantify the strength of social bonding between the individuals of a colony? How to compare the strength of social bonding across the species?
Consider two different species of honey bees. If I have to compare the strength of social bonding between the two species i.e. in which species, social bonding between the individuals is stronger than ...
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Caloric Mimicry
I was thinking about natural "zero calorie" sweetners and how these compounds could come to be via evolution. I was specifically thinking about monk fruit. While artificial selection likely ...
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Hypothetical violation of independence assumption for linear models
Let's say I have measured the abscisic acid content (could be any metabolite really) of 10 individual plants which we can consider biologically independent. Then I repeat that measurement for all 10 ...
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Which species of iron-reducing bacteria are hyper-sensitive to copper?
I would like to know which species of iron-reducing bacteria are inhibited in their iron metabolism by a copper concentration of less than 500 nano moles per litre.
Searching the internet, I can only ...
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Estimation of carbon stock value
I would like to ask, to calculate the carbon value estimation, the Allometric formula is of course used, but in some of the literature I searched, I found different allometric formulas but the same ...
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How should I analyze proportional community data, in respect to habitat variables?
I want to analyze how the proportions of groups of species in a biological community correlated to habitat variables. I have 6 functional groups, defined by their similar traits, and I want to know ...
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Why were vegetation coverages not assumed to be affected by precipitation, humidity or temperature?
I am trying to understand the graph topology of the structural equation model (SEM) given in Figure 1 of Bisset et al 2023. It is stated in the paper that it reflects an a priori causal structure.
I ...
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Phonotaxis and Preference
(Am I losing my mind?) I could have sworn there was solid research indicating that phonotaxis evidence for preferences (during ex situ experiments) was "held up" by en situ experiments...(by ...
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High value weed or plant that can replace the chemical treatment of pesticides and herbicides?
I'm working on a project that aims to replace (at least lower) the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides in farming with the use of high value weeds and plants that can naturally replace the ...
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The Contradiction in Soy Production: Livestock Feed versus Human Consumption?
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this ecological question. I apologize for any inconvenience, and please let me know if it is.
There is a contradiction regarding soy production and its ...
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Where do the bones of dead animals go?
I've spent quite a bit of time in the wild, but I've seen little to no bones lying on the ground.
Large bones such as skulls, spines, horns, hooves are not eaten by any other animals, and even ...
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What would actually be the ecological impact of deep sea mining?
In the last few months I have read a number of articles with increasing alarm concerning the potential of many countries soon engaging in deep sea mining. The idea is that in order to produce numerous ...
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Why is livestock bad for the climate?
It is always told that eating meat is bad for our climate. This is most often explained by mentioning following reasons (Source):
Methane is produced when digesting the food and also the faeces of ...
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Why don't the female lions in a pride help their male lion to protect their children from other males?
I watched a dozen of videos taping the fights between male lions; none of them involve female lions assisting in the fight. It is also known that the male lion who take-over the pride will kill all ...
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Datasets for Genetic Diversity of Species Across Geographical Distribution
I'm carrying out some research on applying machine learning methods to ecology and conservation. I'd like to know: are there some datasets on genetic diversity across geographical positions? ...
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When do invasive species become native species?
Until when an invasive species is considered an "invasive species" and when it is starting to be considered a "native" species, i.e. a species that is an integral part of the local ...
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Could trophy hunting lead to deer evolving to lack antlers?
There was a recent paper in Science which showed that elephants are quickly evolving tusklessness because elephant hunting imposes selective pressure against having tusks:
Shane C. Campbell-Staton et ...
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What is the body density of insects on average?
What is the body density (in $\text{g}/\text{cm}^3$) of insects and is there a list of animals and their value of body density?
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Quantifying species detection probability using sign surveys as a function of distance in known occupied sites
I ran a pilot study to determine the probability of detecting a rare African small carnivore using scat (feces) detection dog surveys to assist with future population monitoring and occupancy surveys. ...
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Ecological regime shifts and natural resource variability
I am thinking of the interaction of two different uncertainties; ecological regime shift uncertainty and natural resource variability.
For example, for fishes, we know that the fish stock is exposed ...
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What is Growing on These Tree Leaves? (Image)
I found a seemingly diseased tree when I was out playing tennis yesterday... What is growing on this tree leaf? Is this a disease? If so, is it contagious? I have zero knowledge in botany, but I'm ...
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How selective are wolves about the size of their prey?
For an animal that lives and hunts socially like a wolf, is there a lower threshold to the size of prey items they will hunt? A pack wouldn't have much trouble with catching say a rabbit, but would ...
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What does genetic diversity in one species have to do with survival rate when an epidemic spreads?
I was studying about genes, and soon remembered that the more diverse the genetics of one species, the less the chance of the species to go extinct from natural disaster.
One instance was an epidemic ...
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Does Ramon Margalef really stated in 1972 general criteria for Shannon-Wiener index interpretation?
I work as field biologist in Chilean System of Environmental Impact Assesment. Several reports made by colleagues use Shannon-Wiener index for characterizing the richness study area, with the ...
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How does an engineered supressive Lethal (when present in 2 copies) gene drive spread through a population until causing population extinction?
I understand that at the molecular level a CRISPR mediated gene drive works by copying the altered gene (and the drive containing CAS enzyme, and guide RNA) into the other chromosome containing the ...
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Would fewer cows mean less methane emission?
Rotting grass produces the same amount of methane as cows that digest grass (see this source). So if cows did not eat the grass, it would still emit methane. Therefore, if there were fewer cows, would ...
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Ecology of the environment for the ruffed grouse
I live in a coastal New England town and while reading a local history I noticed frequent mention of the "partridge" as being a commonplace bird in the area. Now, however, this bird which is ...
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How do I construct sample-based rarefaction curves if the area (or volume) sampled is not consistent between samples?
My apologies if a similar question has been asked previously but I cannot find an answer.
I have data from multiple zooplankton tows from different study sites and I am trying to construct sample-...
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Antibacterial soap impacts on septic system?
What impacts do antibacterial soaps have on septic systems?
I know that septic systems rely heavily on bacteria (especially regarding the breakdown of wastes by bacteria), so it seems as though ...
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Are tuna fish present in the Baltic sea?
Yesterday my grandmother ate fresh tuna at a friend's party. She swears it was fresh and bought at a local fishmonger. The problem is, that we live in Gdańsk, by the south-eastern side of the Baltic ...
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Is the biomass decreasing?
Is the overall biomass decreasing over time, and if yes, has that trend started within the last say $200$ years (about when industrialization started)?
EDIT. Let me add some of my own attempts to ...
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Are animal whiskers a useful monitoring tool?
I have come across studies that have used stable isotope values from seal/sea lion whiskers to infer foraging ecology. However, I am also aware that whiskers can fall off and then grow back. Is there ...
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Larval abalone devlopmental times - what does ~ °C.days or °C hr-1 mean
I'm looking a number of papers on abalone larval development and the term °C.days or °C hrs-1 keeps coming up. The numbers before these terms are much larger than they would be if this term actually ...
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