1. Field Ecology

2. Techniques of Field Ecology • Quadrants: counting the number of a particular species within a boundary set by researchers. Repeating this procedure in several locations within the ecosystem and averaging the results to establish the population density of the species in that ecosystem. • Indirect Counting: used for organisms that move around a lot—counting nests, burrows, or tracks rather than individual organisms.

3. Mark-recapture: the biologist traps an animal in the study area marks them, releases the marked individual, after a period of time the researcher recaptures the animals and counts the marked and unmarked individuals in the second sample.

4. Mark-recapture Activity • Estimate the size of your population and record this number on a sheet of paper • One student in each group should “capture” a handful of beans • Count the number of beans captured and mark (color) those captured beans with your marker then place them back in the box • Shake your shoebox around, and the same student should reach in and take another handful of beans from the box. • The group should count the total number of beans captured and the number of marked beans in the second handful. • Estimate your bean population by putting your data in the formula below: (# beans first handful) x (# beans second handful) = estimated bean population (# of marked beans recaptured)

5. Carrying Capacity • Carrying capacity is the number of organisms in a population that the environment can maintain, with no increase or decrease • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSVbdaubxxg