SEE-UBlack Rock Forest

General Methadology for Instructors and TAs

Exercise 5: Deer Herbivory And Plant Diversity
Module 5: Community Ecology: An Introduction to the Players and How to Measure Communities

  1. Instructor gives the biological background during the lecture on role of herbivores in the ecosystem, emphasizing the diversity of types of herbivory
  2. Students will be given background information on the history of the deer exclosures.
  3. Students will be asked at the end of the lecture to begin thinking of how to experimentally answer the question: "What is the effect of deer herbivory on plant diversity and abundance?"
  4. Independent variable in the experiment is deer herbivory presence or absence
  5. Dependent variables of the plants in their plots that they could use in their experimental design, not all of which are of equal utility in answering the question — several do not summarize the status of the plants within the experimental plots but are still describe aspects of the plots
  6. After lecture, before the start of field time, the students will be asked to confer with their labmates and will be required to draw up a plan outlining the experimental design of their group
  7. Possible methodology