Biophysical Lab Report
Biophysical Ecology
Abstract:
There are many patterns that can be observed throughout our environment. In this experiment, the temperatures of organisms in a biophysical environment were analyzed to see if a pattern could be recognized that was related to the behavior of an ectotherm. An ectotherm is an organism that relies on the environment to regulate its body temperature. Organisms such as Pseudemys (turtles) and Lacertilia (lizards) are examples or ectotherms. After arriving at Maxcy Gregg Park and analyzing the temperatures of four microhabitats within two habitats with infrared thermometers, the temperatures were compared between the microhabitats. Then, one habitat was chosen to analyze the temperatures between temperatures of ectotherms using I-buttons that were placed inside Peeps. After the five Peeps were placed in each microhabitat our predictions were that as the ectothermal organism increased in elevation, the temperature of the organism would decrease do to access to the wind and convection (Biology 301 Handout 2013 Thermal Enviroments). After gathering the temperatures from the I-buttons, over a twenty minute reading in each microhabitat the data was organized in Excel to be placed into an ANOVA calculation to calculate the null hypothesis. Once the p value was compared to alpha (.05) it was determined to be significant because the p value was lower than alpha. Therefore it is clear that the body temperature of an ectotherm could be affected by the elevation of the organism and convection. For future experiments in this subject it would be more beneficial to test microhabitats that vary more in temperature to truly be able to analyze the factors of thermoregulation in microhabitats.
Introduction:
The thermoregulation of ectotherms such as reptiles and insects has increased in “concern about the impacts of global warming on biodiversity… into direct impacts on living animals that remain simplistic” (Kearney, Shine, Porter, 1).
Abstract:
There are many patterns that can be observed throughout our environment. In this experiment, the temperatures of organisms in a biophysical environment were analyzed to see if a pattern could be recognized that was related to the behavior of an ectotherm. An ectotherm is an organism that relies on the environment to regulate its body temperature. Organisms such as Pseudemys (turtles) and Lacertilia (lizards) are examples or ectotherms. After arriving at Maxcy Gregg Park and analyzing the temperatures of four microhabitats within two habitats with infrared thermometers, the temperatures were compared between the microhabitats. Then, one habitat was chosen to analyze the temperatures between temperatures of ectotherms using I-buttons that were placed inside Peeps. After the five Peeps were placed in each microhabitat our predictions were that as the ectothermal organism increased in elevation, the temperature of the organism would decrease do to access to the wind and convection (Biology 301 Handout 2013 Thermal Enviroments). After gathering the temperatures from the I-buttons, over a twenty minute reading in each microhabitat the data was organized in Excel to be placed into an ANOVA calculation to calculate the null hypothesis. Once the p value was compared to alpha (.05) it was determined to be significant because the p value was lower than alpha. Therefore it is clear that the body temperature of an ectotherm could be affected by the elevation of the organism and convection. For future experiments in this subject it would be more beneficial to test microhabitats that vary more in temperature to truly be able to analyze the factors of thermoregulation in microhabitats.
Introduction:
The thermoregulation of ectotherms such as reptiles and insects has increased in “concern about the impacts of global warming on biodiversity… into direct impacts on living animals that remain simplistic” (Kearney, Shine, Porter, 1).