Why did the ecologists surrveying animals difficult?
Answers
Ecology comes from the Greek words oikos, which means house, and logos, which means the study of. Literally, ecology is the study of our home. Ecologists study a wide range of ecosystems all around the world. Ecosystems as varied as a desert with lizards and cacti, an ocean containing sharks and plankton, and a puddle occupied by microbes may appear to have little in common, but ecologists studying all of them use similar methods. They collect field data, perform experiments, and build mathematical models.
Field Work and Observations
The study of environments generally begins with field observations. Field work often starts with non quantitative observations. A researcher may take a stroll through the forest or snorkel a reef to look around. Once ecologists have an idea of the system, they can determine what data they’re interested in collecting. It is never possible to measure everything all of the time, so ecologists need to make decisions about the frequency of measurements and types of measurements to take. Some data collection can be automated, through the use of sensors or research towers, such as the four towers at Harvard University's Harvard Forest. Other data collection methods, like vegetation surveys or animal trapping, must be done in person. The data from field work helps ecologists figure out the right questions to ask.
Experiments
Field data is a great first step to understanding an ecosystem, but there are always questions that can’t be answered with the field surveys. In these cases, ecologists will employ manipulative experiments with a control treatment to test hypotheses about the way an ecosystem works. For example, a famous set of experiments by Prof. Stephen Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin involved adding top predator fish to lakes to see if this would control primary production. The idea was based off of observational data about how lakes changed after winter fish kills. Carpenter’s research team found that more predator fish leads to: 1) less small fish, 2) more zooplankton and 3) less phytoplankton. Called a trophic cascade, these experiments have led to improved management of lakes across the world and other ecosystems like Yellowstone National Park.
Modeling
Modeling is an important tool that ecologists employ to study ecosystems once they think they understand how the ecosystem of an environment works. A model can take many forms, but it represents a specific hypothesis about the mechanics of an ecosystem. The power of modeling is that a good model can let researchers test a range of scenarios that would be too expensive or difficult to do as experiments. Models can help ecologists make predictions about things as varied as how changes to fisheries regulations will affect fisheries stocks or how climate change will impact the ranges of disease carrying species like mosquitoes. Models that predict range expansion of disease carrying mosquitoes can be used to inform doctors in at-risk areas to be on the look out for new diseases such as malaria that may not have occurred there before.
Synthesis
The most powerful research projects are ones that bring together field observations, experiments and modeling. There are programs in place today that are designed to create opportunities for synthesis of these different research methods. For instance, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a new network of locations where a huge range of data will be collected for 30 years following its completed construction. According to information obtained March 2014 from the NEON website, construction has been completed on 25 sites, and 27 sites are planned for construction in 2014. At these sites there are also facilities for ecologists to perform experiments, utilizing the data being collected. The experiments and observational data will be used to build continent-scale models to predict how the environment will respond to threats like invasive species and climate change.