"Faculty workshops in field
ecology at Archbold:
an opportunity to enrich the
teaching of ecology for your
undergraduate students"
| USF FIELD PROJECT | |
|---|---|
| Teaching project title | Habitat selection by the Florida scrub lizard, Sceloporus woodi, and the six-lined racerunner, Cnemidophorus sexlineatus |
| Institution | University of South Florida |
| Faculty (1) Name | Earl McCoy |
| Faculty (2) Name | Henry Mushinsky |
| Abstract | Fire 'opens' scrub habitat, exposing the ground to direct sunlight. Certain scrub species, such as the Florida scrub lizard and six-lined racerunner, prefer these open scrubs. They become increasingly confined to the edges of scrub habitat as it matures, and becomes less opened. These two lizard species are known to prefer scrub that is less than about 8 years post-burn. This field project is designed to illuminate the fact that fire affects habitat structure, which in turn affects animal behavior and distribution. Students will be introduced to the habitat, the lizards, and the role of fire by a "How & Why Walk" in the scrub. The data gathering and analysis portion of the project will involve mostly observation and rudimentary statistics, and will be done with "guided observation" (i.e. instructors will detail methods, ensure proper field procedures, and answer questions, but will not lecture on the "purpose" of the project). One-minute papers, five minute, papers, and concept mapping will be employed in the evaluation process. |
| Identify target student audience and courses | Junior/senior biology majors, enrolled in PCB 3043 (Principles of Ecology) or ZOO 5425 (Herpetology). Class size = 5-15 students. |
| Biological principals | Habitat selection, physiological ecology (thermal biology), fire ecology, behavioral ecology |
| Objectives | 1. Increased observational skills. 2. Correlate species' responses/behaviors to habitat structure. 3. Evaluate the influence of fire history on the distribution of species. 4. Display the results of observations graphically. 5. Master rudimentary statistical analyses. |
| Key words | Habitat, fire, lizard, distribution, inquiry-based learning. |
| Period of study | One or two field days, during March - October, when temperatures are warm and lizards are active. |
| Location | Three scrub areas with different fire histories, burned 0-2, 3-5, 8+ years before present. |
| Habitat | Scrub |
| Project design | Take 3 or more 50-meter transects, form the edge toward the interior of each scrub area; record distance from the edge for each lizard individual sighted; use median distance of sightings from edges to compare lizard distribution among areas. |
| Field/Lab methods | (1) Tiebout, H.M and R.A. Anderson. 1997. A comparison of corridors and intrinsic connectivity to promote dispersal in transient successional landscapes. Conservation Biology 11: 620-627. (2) Greenberg, C.H., D.G. Neary, and L.D. Harris. 1994. Effect of high-intensity wildfire and silvicultural treatments on reptile communities in sand-pine scrub. Conservation Biology *: 1047-1057. |
| Supplies and materials | 50-meter tape measure, compass, data sheets |
| Instrumentation | |
| Taxonomy and systematics | Students can learn to recognize the two lizard species with any field guide (recommend Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida, part II Lizards, Turtles, and Crocodilians. ) |
| Teaching approaches | How & Why Walk, guided observation, minute paper, group concept mapping, class concept mapping by consensus, five-minute paper |
| Final products anticipated | Concept map connecting fire > habitat structure > behavior of lizards > distribution of lizards > conservation and management planning for scrub habitat. |
| Evaluation methods | Minute paper (individual), consensus concept map (class), five-minute paper (class). Five-minute paper will be designed to assess the students' abilities to use the information gained from the project to attack other similar complex ecological problems. |
| Measures of success | Insights displayed by individuals and the class as a whole, as judged by the various assessment techniques. |
| Problems anticipated | Unsuitable weather conditions, which could limit lizard activity, difficulty of large untrained observers in spotting lizards. |