A community of wildflowers growing in a restored prairie in southwestern Wisconsin. The community pictured was open to foraging by meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), resulting in vegetation dominated by species that voles typically do not consume, particularly black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia subtomentosa). In contrast, experimental plots that excluded voles were dominated by plant species that...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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This data set can be used to determine the effect cowbird brood parasitism has on a songbird population. It includes notes for students as well as instructions for faculty.

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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Students investigate the factors that control the rate at which CO2 is emitted from soil using simple soil chambers and soda lime in a field experiment. Students in small groups design and conduct their own experiments to investigate the effects of soil and microclimate factors on CO2 emission. The projects are typically conducted over two consecutive lab periods. During the first session students...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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This experiment illustrates how ecological theory can help conserve native species in a fragmented landscape. It is germane to units on biogeography, human impacts on ecosystems, landscape ecology, conservation, and restoration. During the first lab, the instructor introduces the process of habitat fragmentation, the degree to which species in species-poor assemblages are proper subsets of...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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In this TIEE experiment, students will explore functional and taxonomic diversity in a stream ecosystem, learn about food web relationships, and learn about the ways in which abiotic and biotic factors determine what organisms are present in a community. Students will make and install artificial leaf packs in a stream, wait for the leaf packs to be colonized by stream organisms, measure...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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