ENVIR 250 Worksheet for reading by North et al revised 4.04.21
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Feb 20, 2024
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Worksheet for reading by North et al. (1999) Your Name: _____________________________
1. In your own words, what is the central question North et al. are trying to answer? (hint: see last paragraph of introduction)
2. In your own words, why do North et al. think this question is important? 3. North et al. did not state a hypothesis or predictions. What would you say their hypothesis was? (hint: see last paragraph of introduction)
4. What would you say their predictions were? (hint: see the first paragraph of variable selection section). 5. This study starts with a baseline knowledge of where owls forage. This knowledge is based on previous studies, such as the one whose main figure is shown below, where researchers map the owls’ movements over many days, across an area with different forest types. Looking at the figure below, it appears that old growth forest is the most commonly used habitat type for this owl. Make sure you agree with that assessment when you look at the figure. Given that we already know usage rates of different areas, usage rate becomes the independent variable. This seems backward, but for this study it is not. Habitat structure depends on the rate of usage of each habitat. List at least 3 of the dependent variables (habitat structure variables) measured
in North et al.?
Above is a map generated by a radio telemetry study by Forsman et al. 1984, similar to maps used by North et al. 1999 as a foundation for stand selection.
6. Describe the basic shape, size, and placement of vegetation sampling plots used in North et al.
7. Related to question 10, how did North et al. decide where to place their plots?
8. The North et al. study seeks to generalize about the microhabitat preferences of northern spotted owls.
What are some flaws in their study design? Hints: a) The study was performed at only 3 sites in Washington. Why is this a problem? B) They say that for the purposes of statistics, the unit of analysis is
the number of stands (a stand is a patch of forest) studied, not the # of owl pairs studied. Why is this a problem?
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