Atlantic Forest
General Methadology for Instructors and TAs

Exercise 4: Population Size in Habitats of Different Area
Module 4: Growth and Competition: Population and Metapopulation Dynamics

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  1. Background Lecture:
    • Basic population parameters (structure, density, growth rates, birth and death rates, reproductive rates, etc
    • Estimates of population size (capture-recapture models)
    • Population dynamics models (matrix models)
    • Stella—introduction to use and programming
  2. Activities in the experiment:
    • Collection of data on population density
    • Calculation of population density
    • Compare population densities
    • Build a model of population growth
  3. Hypotheses to test
    • Is population size affected by area?
  4. Independent variables in the experiment
    • Area of habitat
  5. Dependent variables that they could use in their experimental design.
    • Population size
  6. Student evaluation
    • Based on presentation of results (written and oral)
  7. Preparation notes
    • This lab can be done with
      • Plants—quadrat methods
      • Insects—capture-recapture techniques (with previous capture and marking)
      • Mammals/birds—using distance measurements along transects