Download Mark-Recapture Lab Report

Mark-Recapture
Kaycia Henry
Ms. Muna Ali
AP Biology
Period 5
Abstract
The
Introduction
Ecology studies the links between living species, including people, and their physical
environment; it aims to understand the crucial connections between plants and animals and the
world around them. Ecology also informs us about the advantages of ecosystems and how
humans might use Earth's resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future
generations. (Bauer)A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the
same region. A population ecology investigates the elements that influence population size and
how and why it varies over time. Any self-regulating mechanism through which biological
systems seek to preserve stability while responding to conditions best for survival is called
homeostasis in an organism. Life goes on if an equilibrium is achieved; if it is not, calamity or
death occurs. ("Indicators: Human Disturbance | US EPA")
The achieved stability is a dynamic equilibrium in which change is constant, yet
circumstances are generally uniform. Species with large body sizes typically have lower
population densities than species with smaller bodies because each large organism consumes
more of the available resources than each tiny organism. ("homeostasis | Definition, Function,
Examples, & Facts | Britannica") The mark-recapture approach determines the size of a
population of moving animals that would be impossible to count one by one. The mark-recapture
analysis is primarily used in ecology to determine abundance and survival rates within a species.
Knowing a population's density provides more information about its relationship to its resources.
The species used in this experiment were lima beans and kidney beans. These different kinds of
beans represented the two other organisms.
In this experiment, we were told to take data from the two other groups of organisms and
take the distribution of the organisms. Disturbances can also influence species diversity and
composition. Disturbances are events that change a community by removing organisms
from their habitat or altering the available resources. (“Indicators: Human Disturbance | US
EPA”)
Materials and Procedures
This lab requires a 1-gallon plastic cup or plastic bag, a measuring cup, and two different
colors of beans nearly the same size and shape.
You'll also need one beaker of light-colored beans and one of dark-colored beans.
To begin the experiment, tie your hair up, put on gloves, and find a clean workplace.
Then, carefully pour the beans into the beakers while dealing with the beans.
The first step is to scoop out two cups of light-colored beans from the beaker and place
them in your bag. Make an educated guess of how many light-colored beans you just put in the
bag, but don't count them. Make a note of this estimate in table one. Next, grab a handful of
light-colored beans from the pack and arrange them on your desk. This will be your first attempt
at collecting a swarm of animals (C1). Count these beans, set them aside, and enter the total as
your value for the number of persons captured in table one for sampling time one. The organisms
(beans) you have just caught will then be labeled. Rather than directly watching the creature like
you would in the wild, just change the light-colored beans with dark-colored beans as you did in
step one.
The number of beans you marked now becomes the number of marked people in the
population for your following sample. In table one, enter this number of marked beans as M2 for
sampling time two. (The value should be the same as the values in C1.) It's worth noting that the
M1 value for sampling time one is zero because there were no marked people. The following step
is to return the designated beans to the population in the bag and shake vigorously to mix the
beans thoroughly. Return the light-colored beans to the beaker. Next, take a handful of beans
from the bag without looking at them and set them on your desk. This will be your second catch
of organisms.
After you have set the population on your desk, count the number of beans you have
captured in the handful, regardless of whether they are labeled. The number will then be entered
as the value for C2 in table one. You will then inspect the handful of beans you collected in the
previous stage. First, count the number of marked beans and enter the total as your R2 in table
one. Because there were no tagged persons, the R1 value for sampling time one is zero. Then,
count the amount of unmarked (light-colored) beans, replace them with dark-colored beans, and
return the light-colored beans to their corresponding beakers. After that, note the number of
persons you just marked under M2 and the resultant total as the value for M3 for sampling time
three in table one. This will show the overall number of marked persons in the population today.
After counting, return all of the beans from this second gathering (which are now all tagged and
hence dark-colored) to the bag. Before collecting a handful, make sure to shake the container
properly.
The next stage is to grab a handful of beans from the bag without peeking and set them
on your desk. This will be the third organism catch. You will next count the total number of
beans you gathered in this handful (whether or not they are labeled) and record this amount as
the value for C3 for sampling time three in table one. Next, check the handful of beans you
collected in the previous stage. Count the number of marked beans and note this as the value for
R in table one. Then count the amount of unmarked light-colored beans, replace them with dark-
colored beans, and return the light-colored beans to their respective beakers. You will next enter
the number of individuals you just tagged under M3 and the resulting total as the value of M4 for
sampling time four in table one. This will show the overall number of marked persons in the
population today. Then, return the beans from the second collection (which are now all tagged
and dark-colored) to the bag and thoroughly shake. Without peeking, take a handful of beans
from the pack and set them on your desk to indicate your fourth organism capture. Count the
number of beans you collected and enter it as the value for C3 in table one. Then count the
number of marked beans and enter the total as the value for R4 in table one.
After completing the preceding phase, you will apply the equation to determine the ( N )
value in table one, representing the calculated population size. After selecting the population
size, count the total quantity of beans in your bag and note it in table one. Finally, you will split
the beans into their various beakers. To help you with your calculations, you will use the formula
seen below:
N=
𝑀2 𝑀2 + 𝑀3 𝑀3 + 𝑀4 𝑀4
𝑀2 + 𝑀3 + 𝑀4
Results / Data/ Photo
Data 1
N=
(40)(37) + (70)(60) + (103)(59)
(7) + (27) + (34)
= 172.90
Sampling time
# of Marked
Individuals in a
Population (Mi)
# of Individual
Captured (C)
# of Individual
Recaptured
1
0
40
0
2
40
37
7
3
30 + 40 = 70
33 + 27 = 60
27
4
30 + 40 = 33
25 + 34 = 59
34
Estimated
Population Size
120
Calculated
Population Size (N)
172.90
Actual Population
Size
175
GRAPH:
Discussion and Conclusion,
The findings of this experiment, validated our alternate hypothesis that disturbances
caused by human activities can affect both the organisms and the resources within their habitat.
In the mark-recapture lab, we can see how ecological succession is the gradual process by which
the species composition of a community changes and develops over time after a disturbance.
Human error may have contributed to the restrictions in this lab. We did not get the same type of
beans for both organisms, so retrieving both the organisms was complicated because the lima
beans were more significant than the kidney beans.
MLA Citations
Bauer, Scott. “What Is Ecology? – The Ecological Society of America.” The Ecological Society
of America, https://www.esa.org/about/what-does-ecology-have-to-do-with-me/. Accessed 29
April 2022. (Bauer)
“Population: Abundance and Distribution.” YouTube, 3 October 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4_hnFha7Hg. Accessed 29 April 2022.
“Indicators: Human Disturbance | US EPA.” US Environmental Protection Agency, 7 July 2021,
https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/indicators-human-disturbance.
Accessed 29 April 2022.
“homeostasis | Definition, Function, Examples, & Facts | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 8
April 2022, https://www.britannica.com/science/homeostasis. Accessed 29 April 2022.