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11.7.1: Sampling Animals in Populations

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    64755

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    In Section 4.6.5 we considered a study that directly researched animal behavior capture bias (Biro 2013). In the study four natural lakes with no fish in them and no natural or human predators were stocked with rainbow trout that had three different growth rates. At the end of the season, fish were sampled from the lakes using experimental nets designed to eliminate bias due to the size of the fish. The researcher predicted that the fast-growing fish, independent of their size, would be more likely to be captured in nets.

    The capture data from the study are visually represented in Figures \(\PageIndex{1}\)–\(\PageIndex{3}\). Each of the line graphs show the cumulative proportion of fish that were capture by each day of the study for the four lakes. The three lines represent the capture proportions for slow-, intermediate-, and fast-growing fish. All the plots indicate that that the cumulative proportion of fish captured increases. This makes logical sense because the more we go fishing in a lake, the larger proportion of the fish we will have caught. Within each plot the lines allow us to compare the trends between the three types of fish stocked in the lake. From these lines we can obtain two types of important information. In all the plots we can observe that while the trends of the three different types of fish are similar, there are differences in the proportion caught. For example, in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) the trend of the proportion of fish caught for the intermediate and the fast-growing fish are almost the same, the only difference being that the line for the fast-growing fish is higher than that of the intermediate-growing fish. Similar trends can be observed in Figures \(\PageIndex{2}\) and \(\PageIndex{3}\). In a couple of cases the trend for the slow-growing fish are observed to be different than the other two types of fish. For example, in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) the slope of the trend line is smaller so that the line for the slow-growing fish and the fast-growing fish cross. A similar effect can be observed in Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\).

    clipboard_e44f98de3ddf317f341c1021b2e0835b7.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The cumulative proportion of fish captured in the first lake for slow-, intermediate-, and fast-growing fish adapted from Biro (2013). (Public domain image created by Alan M.Polansky)
    clipboard_e8a2390bfdbfbe75d01c99c79cad83dcb.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The cumulative proportion of fish captured in the second lake for slow-, intermediate-, and fast-growing fish adapted from Biro (2013). (Public domain image created by Alan M.Polansky)
    clipboard_ee62708366bb1ec17e4c9b7efd2b9b28a.png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): The cumulative proportion of fish captured in the third lake for slow-, intermediate-, and fast-growing fish adapted from Biro (2013). (Public domain image created by Alan M.Polansky)

    The visual representation of this data is crucial in observing these trends. One can image attempting to discern these types of conclusions from tables of the associated data. Using the line plots these trends can be observed easily and quickly.


    This page titled 11.7.1: Sampling Animals in Populations is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by .

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