BIO320 Ecological Hypotheses Ecological Question Assignment In this assignment, you will pose an ecological question related to one or more of your field o

BIO320 Ecological Hypotheses Ecological Question Assignment In this assignment, you will pose an ecological question related to one or more of your field observations and generate at two hypothetical answers to this question. Your question can be focused on a pattern or change occurring at the level of an organism, population, community, or ecosystem. Your hypotheses should be educated guesses that represent either competing or complementary views. You will be asked to relate each hypothesis to a concept or model from your coursework in BIO 320 or BIO 321.Please use the following template to be sure that you have completed all aspects of this assignment:I also attached an example of this assignment Example for Ecological Hypotheses Assignment
State your ecological question here (2 points):
Why do squirrels decide to run to trees before eating food instead of eat food in the open where
they find it?
Describe your observation(s) that motivated your ecological question (3 points):
During several visits to my site, I observed squirrels foraging in open grassy areas. When finding
food, a squirrel would sometimes run to a tree and climb to an upper branch before eating. In
other cases, a squirrel would just consume the food where it was found.
State two different hypotheses that could answer your ecological question (8 points):
Hypothesis 1)
Squirrels consume food in a tree whenever they feel that a predator is nearby.
Hypothesis 2)
Squirrels consume food in a tree whenever a tree is close enough or the food is small enough to
carry without expending too much energy.
Relate each of your hypotheses to concepts or models covered in BIO 320 or 321 (12 points):
Hypothesis 1)
In CogBooks for BIO 320, we learned about ways that predators affect the behaviors and life
histories of prey. In one example, frog embryos hatched early when disturbed by the vibrations
of a snake eating their siblings. This type of anti-predator behavior has a potential cost, because
the embryos must leave the egg earlier than usual and begin their tadpole stage at a smaller size.
Therefore, frogs only behave this way when they sense a predator in their environment.
Similarly, squirrels must expend energy to move between food and safety while foraging. They
should only expend this energy when sensing that a predator is nearby.
Hypothesis 2)
In several courses (CogBooks for BIO 182 and 320 and in the Foraging Lab for BIO 321), we
learned about models optimal foraging. These models assume that animals behave in ways that
maximize their net energy gain. If squirrels feel threatened in an open area, the decision to move
to safety before eating would impose an energetic cost. The net energy gain would be the amount
of energy in food, minus the cost of finding the food and moving to a safe place. If we increase
the cost of moving between the location of food and a location of safety, an animal should be
less likely to move to safety before eating. The energetic cost that causes an animal to switch
between these behaviors should depend on the amount of risk in the open vs in a tree.
State your ecological question here (2 points):
Describe your observation(s) that motivated your ecological question (3 points):
State two different hypotheses that could answer your ecological question (8 points):
Hypothesis 1)
Hypothesis 2)
Relate each of your hypotheses to concepts or models covered in BIO 320 or 321 (12 points):
Hypothesis 1)
Hypothesis 2)

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