scholarly journals A “Sweet” Activity to Teach Basic Population Estimation Principles, Community Diversity Assessment, and Mathematical Reasoning to Biology Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (7) ◽  
pp. 522-528
Author(s):  
Jim R. Goetze ◽  
Marisela Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Reasoning ◽  
Community Analysis ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Biological Community ◽  
Diversity Assessment ◽  
Diversity Estimates ◽  
Instructional Situations

In this article, we describe how to utilize differently colored M&M candies to represent species within a simulated biological community, and obtain population and diversity estimates utilizing Lincoln-Petersen and Shannon-Weaver methods, respectively. Through use of this activity, our students gain a better understanding of mathematical applications in biological research, and are exposed to basic census and community analysis techniques utilized by practicing biologists. Additionally, this activity may be utilized in various instructional situations where, otherwise, it might prove impractical to take students on a fieldtrip to allow practice of these procedures.

scholarly journals ANALISIS KETERAMPILAN METAKOGNITIF DAN SIKAP ILMIAH SISWA MELALUI METODE PEMBELAJARAN INKUIRI

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Suriani Siregar
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Inquiry Learning ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Learning Models ◽  
Scientific Attitude ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Metacognitive Abilities ◽  
Scientific Attitudes

This research is a descriptive study with the aim to analyze metacognitive skills and scientific attitudes of biology students on Genetic materials through inquiry learning models. This research was carried out in Universitas Gunung Leuser Aceh. The sample in this study is Biology students in semester VI totaled 24 students. Data on the ability of metacognitive skills were obtained by questionnaire while scientific attitude data were obtained by observation sheets. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis techniques. The results is that the metacognitive skills of students is in the very good category (80,50%) while the students’ scientific attitude is in the good category (72,29%). The result shows that the inquiry learning models can improve biology students’ metacognitive abilities and scientific attitudes on Genetic materials.

scholarly journals Development of a Biological Science Quantitative Reasoning Exam (BioSQuaRE)

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. ar66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Stanhope ◽  
Laura Ziegler ◽  
Tabassum Haque ◽  
Laura Le ◽  
Marcelo Vinces ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Biological Science ◽  
Quantitative Reasoning ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Undergraduate Biology ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Quantitative Skills ◽  
Using Data

Multiple reports highlight the increasingly quantitative nature of biological research and the need to innovate means to ensure that students acquire quantitative skills. We present a tool to support such innovation. The Biological Science Quantitative Reasoning Exam (BioSQuaRE) is an assessment instrument designed to measure the quantitative skills of undergraduate students within a biological context. The instrument was developed by an interdisciplinary team of educators and aligns with skills included in national reports such as BIO2010, Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians, and Vision and Change. Undergraduate biology educators also confirmed the importance of items included in the instrument. The current version of the BioSQuaRE was developed through an iterative process using data from students at 12 postsecondary institutions. A psychometric analysis of these data provides multiple lines of evidence for the validity of inferences made using the instrument. Our results suggest that the BioSQuaRE will prove useful to faculty and departments interested in helping students acquire the quantitative competencies they need to successfully pursue biology, and useful to biology students by communicating the importance of quantitative skills. We invite educators to use the BioSQuaRE at their own institutions.

scholarly journals Species-rich bark and ambrosia beetle fauna (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) of the Ecuadorian Amazonian Forest Canopy

ZooKeys ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1044 ◽  
pp. 797-813
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Dole ◽  
Jiri Hulcr ◽  
Anthony I. Cognato
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Species Accumulation Curves ◽  
Ambrosia Beetles ◽  
Diversity Assessment ◽  
Α Diversity ◽  
Canopy Fogging ◽  
Diversity Estimates

Canopy fogging was used to sample the diversity of bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) at two western Amazonian rainforest sites in Ecuador. Sampling was conducted by Dr Terry Erwin and assistants from 1994–2006 and yielded 1158 samples containing 2500 scolytine specimens representing more than 400 morphospecies. Here, we analyze a subset of these data representing two ecological groups: true bark beetles (52 morphospecies) and ambrosia beetles (69 morphospecies). A high percentage of these taxa occurred as singletons and doubletons and their species accumulation curves did not reach an asymptote. Diversity estimates placed the total scolytine species richness for this taxon subset present at the two sites between 260 and 323 species. The α-diversity was remarkably high at each site, while the apparently high β-diversity was an artifact of undersampling, as shown by a Monte Carlo resampling analysis. This study demonstrates the utility of canopy fogging for the discovery of new scolytine taxa and for approximate diversity assessment, but a substantially greater sampling effort would be needed for conclusive alpha as well as beta diversity estimates.

Microbial Community Analysis on Oxic-Settling-Anaerobic Process by Using PCR-DGGE Assay

2011 ◽  
Vol 255-260 ◽  
pp. 2934-2939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Fang Wang ◽  
Qing Liang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Community Analysis ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Microbial Community Analysis ◽  
Organic Loading Rate ◽  
Slight Variation ◽  
Biological Phosphorus Removal ◽  
Microbial Composition

In situ sludge reduction of the oxic-settling-anaerobic (OSA) process was investigated in this study and microbial community diversity in the system was analyzed by using a PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) approach. Comparing to the conventional activated sludge method, the production of excessive sludge in the OSA process was shown to be efficiently reduced by 44-50 % and the organic loading rate was observed to have a slight impact on sludge yield. As demonstrated by the slight variation of Shannon diversity indices (SDI), the dominant microbial composition remained stable in the OSA sludge with the increase ofNs. About 63% of clones represented by predominant bands in the DGGE pattern were affiliated with the subclass ofb-proteobacteria. A number of bacteria in the OSA process were phylogenetically related to uncultured bacteria isolated from enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge.

Characterization of microbial community in nitrogen removal process of metallurgic wastewater by PCR-DGGE

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Yoshie ◽  
N. Noda ◽  
T. Miyano ◽  
S. Tsuneda ◽  
A. Hirata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Nitrogen Removal ◽  
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
Community Analysis ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Industrial Wastes ◽  
Microbial Community Analysis ◽  
Gradient Gel Electrophoresis

The metallurgic wastewater generated from the processes of recovering precious metals from industrial wastes contains high concentrations of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia and nitric acid and of salts such as sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. Biological nitrogen removal from this wastewater was attempted by a circulating bioreactor system equipped with an anoxic packed bed and an aerobic fluidized bed. The anoxic packed bed of this system was found to effectively remove nitrite and nitrate from the wastewater by denitrification at a removal ratio of 97%. As a result of denitrification activity tests at various NaCl concentrations, the sludge obtained from the anoxic packed bed exhibited accumulation of nitrite at 5.0 and 8.4% NaCl concentrations, suggesting that the reduction of nitrite is the key step in the denitrification pathway under hypersaline conditions. The microbial community analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR-amplified 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) fragments revealed that the community diversity varied in accordance with water temperature, nitrate-loading rate and ionic strength. When particular major DGGE bands were excised, reamplified and directly sequenced, the dominant species in the anoxic packed bed were affiliated with the beta and gamma subclasses of the class Proteobacteria such as Alcaligenes defragrans and Pseudomonas spp., respectively.

scholarly journals Sedimentary DNA Reveals Cyanobacterial Community Diversity over 200 Years in Two Perialpine Lakes

2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (21) ◽  
pp. 6472-6482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Monchamp ◽  
Jean-Claude Walser ◽  
Francesco Pomati ◽  
Piet Spaak
Keyword(s):  
Community Analysis ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Cyanobacterial Community ◽  
Phylogenetic Structure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Perialpine Lakes ◽  
Lake Zürich

ABSTRACTWe reconstructed cyanobacterial community structure and phylogeny using DNA that was isolated from layers of stratified sediments spanning 200 years of lake history in the perialpine lakes Greifensee and Lake Zurich (Switzerland). Community analysis based on amplification and sequencing of a 400-nucleotide (nt)-long 16S rRNA fragment specific toCyanobacteriarevealed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) capturing the whole phylum, including representatives of a newly characterized clade termedMelainabacteria, which shares common ancestry withCyanobacteriaand has not been previously described in lakes. The reconstruction of cyanobacterial richness and phylogenetic structure was validated using a data set consisting of 40 years of pelagic microscopic counts from each lake. We identified the OTUs assigned to common taxa known to be present in Greifensee and Lake Zurich and found a strong and significant relationship (adjustedR2= 0.89;P< 0.001) between pelagic species richness in water and OTU richness in the sediments. The water-sediment richness relationship varied between cyanobacterial orders, indicating that the richness ofChroococcalesandSynechococcalesmay be underestimated by microscopy. PCR detection of the microcystin synthetase genemcyAconfirmed the presence of potentially toxic cyanobacterial taxa over recent years in Greifensee and throughout the last century in Lake Zurich. The approach presented in this study demonstrates that it is possible to reconstruct past pelagic cyanobacterial communities in lakes where the integrity of the sedimentary archive is well preserved and to explore changes in phylogenetic and functional diversity over decade-to-century timescales.IMPORTANCECyanobacterial blooms can produce toxins that affect water quality, especially under eutrophic conditions, which are a consequence of human-induced climate warming and increased nutrient availability. Lakes worldwide have suffered from regular cyanobacterial blooms over the last century. The lack of long-term data limits our understanding of how these blooms form. We successfully reconstructed the past diversity of whole cyanobacterial communities over two hundred years by sequencing genes preserved in the sediments of two perialpine lakes in Switzerland. We identified changes in diversity over time and validated our results using existing data collected in the same two lakes over the past 40 years. This work shows the potential of our approach for addressing important ecological questions about the effects of a changing environment on lake ecology.

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