Important course information

1
Important course information

• 3 lectures 2 pracs per week (see timetable)
• Evaluation
• Class test (33) Prac work (67) course mark
• Course mark (60) Exam mark (40) final mark
• TESTS
• (1) Friday 25th April 1pm Z29
• (2) OPTIONAL Saturday 3rd May 8am Z29
• CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT
• Report 1 (10) Estimating population sizes for
  different organisms (essay OR presentation)
• DUE DATE April 14th
• Report 2 (10) Determining the age of
  individuals in a population (essay OR
  presentation)
• DUE DATE May 5th
• Report 3 (20) Practical report..mark-recapture
• DUE DATE May 12th
• Exam open book

2
Important course information

• PASS Final mark 50 AND Exam mark 40 AND
  Practical mark 50
• Supplementary exam conditional
• If Prac mark 50 OR Course mark 40 then not
  eligible to write the exam
• REPORTS 1 2
• Each student selects an organism
• ODD number
• Report 1 Essay (April 14th)
• Report 2 Presentation (May 5th)
• EVEN number
• Report 1 Presentation (April 14th)
• Report 2 Essay (May 5th)
• Report 1 Review the literature and provide a
  summary of the methods used to estimate the
  population size of your organism
• Report 2 Review the literature and provide a
  Summary of the methods used to estimate the age
  of individuals of your organism

3
Important course information

• Reports must include
• Brief description of organism biology, ecology,
  distribution and habitat
• An overview of the methods used for estimating
  populations
• A FULL bibliography
• One to be written as an essay, one to be
  delivered as PowerPoint presentation
• ESSAYS
• 750 1000 words (excl. references)
• Must reference at least one journal article,
  maximum of 3 textbook articles and 3 internet
  articles
• MUST attach copies of referenced text to your
  report (print/photocopy appropriate page and
  highlight cited text)
• Reference any illustrations you use
• PRESENTATIONS
• 5 minute presentation to be given to the class
• Max 5 slides
• Must give slides to course co-ordinator 24 hours
  in advance (Report 1 - 11 April)
• See rubric for presentation assessments
• NO MATHEMATICAL FORMULAE in ESSAY OR
  PRESENTATION. Focus on gathering information on
  all the types of field or simulation methods used
  to collect data

4
Important course information

• See handout for evaluation criteria, author
  instructions and common mistakes
• PLAGIARISM
• Offence 1 Zero for submitted work written
  apology to department
• Can resubmit, but will get maximum 50 for the
  work
• Offence 2 Reported to University Proctor,
  possible disciplinary action
• Sign course plagiarism declaration and submit
  now.
• Assignment plagiarism declaration to be submitted
  with ALL assignments
• Attach paper copies of all cited text to your
  assigments
• RECOMMENDED READINGS
• Begon, M., Harper, J.L. and Townsend, C.R.
  (1990). Ecology Individuals, Populations and
  Communities. Blackwell Scientific Publications,
  945pp.
• Begon, M. and Mortimer, M. (1986). Population
  Ecology A Unified Study of Animals and Plants.
  Blackwell Scientific Publications, 220pp.
• Ebert, T.A. (1999). Plant and Animal Populations
  Methods in Demography. Academic Press, 312pp
• Krebs, C.J. (1999). Ecological Methodology.
  Benjamin Cummings, 620pp.
• Sutherland, W.J. (2000). Ecological Census
  Techniques A Handbook. Cambridge University
  Press, 336pp
• Zar, J.H. (1984) Biostatistical Analysis.
  Prentice-Hall
• Must make personal copies of chapters 2 and 4

5
Important course information

• Students taking the course as an electiveif you
  decide to de-register from the course, you must
  do so by the end of THIS week.
• Online resources
• http//www.bcb.uwc.ac.za
• Click on resources
• Click on Online resources
• Follow links to BCB241 2008
• Lecture slides will be made available online at
  the end of each lecture block

6
POPULATION DYNAMICS
Required background knowledge

• Data and variability concepts
• Measures of central tendency (Mean, median, mode,
  variance, Stdev)
• Normal distribution and SE
• Students t-test and 95 confidence intervals
• Chi-Square tests
• MS Excel

7
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Hypothetico-deductive approach (Popper) based on
principle of falsification theories are
disproved because proof is logically impossible.
A theory is disproved if there exists a logically
possible explanation that is inconsistent with it
Can only really test hypotheses by experimentation
8
EXAMPLE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Pattern Observation
Notiluca give off light when disturbed
Rigorously Describe
9
DATA the raw material of Science
DESCRIBE
DATA
VARIABILITY
10
DATA the raw material of Science
Data pl (datum, s) are observations, numerical
facts
Types of Data
Nominal data gender, colour, species, genus,
class, town, country, model etc
Continuous data concentration, depth, height,
weight, temperature, rate etc
Discrete data numbers per unit space, numbers
per entity etc
Often referred to as VARIABLES because they vary
The type of data collected influences their
analysis
11
DATA the raw material of Science
DESCRIBE
DATA
VARIABILITY
12
VARIABILITY key feature of the natural world

• Genotypic/Phenotypic variation differences
  between individuals of the same species
  (blood-type, colour, height etc)

Patterns of VARIABILITY

• Variability in time/space changes in numbers
  per unit space, time

Measurement variability experimental error
(bias)
13
VARIABILITY
impossible to describe data exactly
Uncertainty
Accuracy
Precision
14
ACCURACY how close a measure is to the real
value
20.63 cm
20.631506542 cm
Accept a level of measurement error be upfront
15
VARIABILITY
impossible to describe data exactly
Uncertainty
Accuracy
Precision
16
PRECISION how close repeat measures are to each
other
20.632
17
POPULATION DYNAMICS
Required background knowledge

• Data and variability concepts
• Data collection
• Measures of central tendency (Mean, median, mode,
  variance, Stdev)
• Normal distribution and SE
• Students t-test and 95 confidence intervals
• Chi-Square tests
• MS Excel

18
DATA COLLECTION
Population the entire collection of measurements

• e.g.
• mass of 19 yr old elephants
• the blood pressure of women between 16-18 yrs of
  age
• number of earthworms on UWC rugby field
• height of UWC BSc II students
• oxygen content of water

LARGE POPULATION

Take SAMPLES
REPLICATES
REPRESENTATIVE of POPULATION
When taking samples it is vital that they are
RANDOM and INDEPENDENT
19
DATA COLLECTION
A 1 (25 in the field) B 17 (375 in the
field) C 10 (250 in the field) D 4 (100 in
the field)
e.g. How many earthworms in the field of 25 0000
m2?
SAMPLE
How many earthworms in the field of 25 0000 m2?
20
DATA COLLECTION
UWC Student POPULATION
UWC Student RANDOM SAMPLE
e.g. How tall are UWC students?
21
DATA the raw material of Science
Statistics summary, analysis and interpretation
of data
DESCRIBE
VARIABILITY
DATA
Data Collection