SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

1
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING
POSSIBLE
ACTUAL
2
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• What is science?
• Who does science?
• How do we do science?

3
WHAT IS SCIENCE?

• Collection of facts/catalog of information
• Problem solver
• Acquisition of knowledge explains natural
  phenomena to us

4
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• What is science?
• Who does science?
• How do we do science?

5
WHO DOES SCIENCE?

• Curious
• Imaginative
• Questioning

• Problem solving
• Testing
• Experimenting

6
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• What is science?
• Who does science?
• How do we do science?

7
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING
POSSIBLE
ACTUAL
GENERATIVE
ANALYTICAL
8
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING

• Assume the truth of some opinion
• Examine logical consequences of holding a
  particular opinion or belief
• Take steps to determine if consequences come to
  pass

9
Sir Francis Galton andthe Efficacy of Prayer
An Example

• Assume the truth of some opinion What prayed
  for comes to pass through prayer
• Examine logical consequences of holding a
  particular opinion or belief Prayers for the
  health of the royal family should lead to their
  better health
• Take steps to determine if consequences come to
  pass Examine actuarial tables

10
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWINGAn Empirical
Epistemology
POSSIBLE
POSSIBLE
ACTUAL
ACTUAL
11
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS THE POSSIBLE
Deduction
Induction
OBSERVATION
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA THE ACTUAL
12
Approximately two-thirds of all the bird species
that breed in the forests of eastern North
America migrate from temperate breeding grounds
to more tropical wintering areas in the
Caribbean, Mexico, and Central and South America.
13
EN ROUTE PROBLEMS

• Adjust to unfamiliar habitats
• Acquire food in short period of time
• Avoid predators
• Resolve conflicting demands
• Maintain health
• Gain adequate sleep
• Correct orientation mistakes
• Cope with adverse weather

14
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• Arbovirus Arthropod-borne virus
• Arthropods Blood-sucking insects
• (e.g. mosquitoes, ticks)

15
(No Transcript)
16
Spread of West Nile Virus
17
Spread of West Nile Virus
18
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• Migratory birds suspected as principal means
• of dispersing virus to new regions
• Birds are the amplifying host of West Nile
• virus.
• Birds captured during migratory period have
• WNV antibodies.
• Virus has been isolation from birds during the
  migratory period

19
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus

• If migratory birds are principal
• dispersal agents, then
• Migrating birds must be infectious (i.e., level
  of viremia sufficient to infect mosquito).
• Infectious migrants must display migratory
  activity.

20
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus
Swainsons Thrush
Wood Thrush
21
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach

• Captured Fort Morgan Peninsula, Alabama, during
  fall migration
• Housed in a the Animal Research Facility, a
  Biosafety Level 3 Facility

22
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach
Bird Cage
Datalogger
23
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach
24
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus Experimental
Approach

• Treatment birds inoculated
• with 1000 pfu of North
• American strain of WNV

Collected 0.05ml blood from both treatment and
control birds
25
SWTH Nighttime Activity
TREATMENT
CONTROL
26
WOTH Nighttime Activity
TREATMENT
CONTROL
27
Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus
Migratory birds display migratory activity while
infectious with West Nile virus. Consistent
with the hypothesis that migratory birds are a
principal means of dispersing virus to new
regions
28
SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING
POSSIBLE
ACTUAL
29
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA
30
Migratory Birds and Sleep Loss

• Wakefulness allows animals to interact adaptively
• with their environment, while adaptive waking
• performance is contingent on sleep, the function
  of
• which remains a contested issue.
• Consequences of irregular and deprived sleep
  patterns?
• Nocturnal bird migrants provide an excellent
  model group to study the
• consequences of naturally occurring sleep loss
  and compensatory
• adjustments that would accompany sleep loss,
  including uni-hemispheric
• sleep.

31
TEMPORAL PATTERN TO MIGRATION
NEXRAD Reflectivity National Composite Robert
Diehl. Personal communication
32
TEMPORAL PATTERN TO MIGRATION
NEXRAD Reflectivity National Composite Robert
Diehl. Personal communication
33
DIEL PATTERN OF MIGRATION
Diehl, R. H. and R. P. Larkin.  In press.  Bird
Conservation Implementation and Integration in
the Americas Proceedings of the Third
International Partners in Flight Conference.
(Ralph and Rich, eds.). USDA Forest Service,
Albany, CA.
34
Migratory Birds and Sleep

• A migrant loses substantial opportunity for
• nighttime sleep during the migratory season.
• Negative consequences?
• In response, migrants likely evolved compensatory
  
• mechanism(s). For example, migratory birds might
  sleep more during the day. But too much daytime
  sleep might compromise a birds ability to
  replenish energy supplies needed for subsequent
  flights and increase the risk of predation.
• Natural selection may have promoted other
  mechanisms for sleep compensation such as
  uni-hemispheric sleep.

35
Migratory Birds and Sleep Loss

• Tested hypothesis that migrants
• compensate for sleep loss through
• collaboration with neurobiologists
• at Bowling Green State University
• Conducted behavioral and
• electro-physiological analysis
• of sleep

Swainsons Thrush
36
(No Transcript)
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
Migratory vs. Non-Migratory State
40
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CYCLE
HYPOTHESIS
Deduction
Induction
PREDICTION
DECISION
Experimentation
Comparison
DATA