week 7

1. week 7

2. meta-analysis • what is meta-analysis? • is inductive experimentation similar to meta-analysis in that one picks and choose data in order to prove one's hypothesis?

3. meta-analysis • what is meta-analysis? • is inductive experimentation similar to meta-analysis in that one picks and choose data in order to prove one's hypothesis? • induction: start from observation, move to theory • deduction: start with theory, move to observation and confirmation so, what’s meta-analysis?

4. ecotones • how do ecotones occur if not created by humans? • ecotones can have high diversity, but also contribute to biodiversity loss. how do these ideas work together? • are the species found at the edges of ecotones more able than most to survive in variable conditions? • can there be vertical ecotones, such as the canopy vs. forest floor? • what is an edge effect?

5. fragmentation • if habitat fragmentation forms geographical areas in which populations become geographically isolated, can this lead to allopatric speciation? • what are the key differences between habitat patchiness and habitat fragmentation?

6. general questions • what’s the difference between guild, taxa, and community? • is there any benefit to having a community of generalists rather than a community of specialists? • how is an ‘environmental gradient’ measured? • what does the pricing of "sequencing the genome” mean? • where does the energy in trophic levels go?

7. what’s the question? • what are the predictions (competing hypotheses)? • how did they test their predictions? • what were their results and conclusions?