Question

Why would an ecologist observe and study a sample instead of the whole population?

Answer 1

Ecologists must observe the environment, the species within it and how those species interact, grow and change. Ecological methods allow for such differences so that different tools can be used for observations and sampling.

Answer 2

Answer:

The Most ecological and evolutionary questions require sampling to be answered. The importance of developing a rigorous sampling design tailored to specific questions has been discussed previously in the ecological and sampling literature, which has provided useful tools and recommendations for sampling and analyzing ecological data

Explanation:

Due to apparent inconsistencies between theory and practice, sampling issues in ecological studies are frequently difficult to overcome, leading to the use of simplified sampling designs with unknown biases. Furthermore, we believe that traditional sampling principles based on mean and variance estimation are insufficient to fully address many ecological questions requiring the estimation of relationships between a response and a set of predictor variables over time and space Our goal is to emphasize the importance of selecting a suitable sampling space and a suitable sampling design.

• We also emphasize the importance of estimating models or complex parameters using prior knowledge of the study system in order to better understand ecological patterns and processes that generate these patterns.
• We demonstrate how the selection of the space (e.g., geographic, climatic) in which the sampling is designed influences the patterns that can be detected using a semi-virtual simulation study. We also show that common sampling designs are ineffective at revealing response curves between ecological variables and climatic gradients.
• Furthermore, we demonstrate that response-surface methodology, which has been used sparingly in ecology, is far more efficient than more traditional methods sampling designs using prior knowledge, simulation studies, and model-based designs.
• We conclude by urging the development of methods for unbiasedly estimating nonlinear ecologically relevant parameters in order to make inferences while meeting sampling theory and field work logistics requirements.