Ecology: Community Ecology Assignment
In this unit we have discussed several aspects of community ecology. This assignment will focus on one specific area: Predation and Symbiotic Interactions. Within these two topics, select one of the following sub-topics for your paper topic: 1) predation,
2) predator avoidance,
3) mutualism, and
4) commensalism.
For your assignment, pick one of these 4 topics and do background research on that topic – focusing in on a specific example community interaction that you will select for this assignment. Use the internet as a general search tool to get you going, then once you have selected a specific topic, conduct a more formal literature search at the below sites to find primary literature that focuses on you specific topic.
-Using the articles as reference material (citing them in the document – not directly quoted them) write a summary article on your topic. Your final assignment should be 2-3 page summary (single-spaced;
12pt font) of the topic you selected. Be sure to include the following headings in your document:
Title: Give your assignment a catchy title.
Topic Selection: Specifically state which of the 4 topics you selected and then discuss why you chose the specific topic for this assignment
Summary: Summarize the topic using the articles (citing it correctly when necessary). This section should be the meat of your assignment.
Research Question: Finish up your summary with a follow-up research question that you would pursue if you were a researcher this that field and needed to formulate a hypothesis/research direction for your future research.
Literature Cited: Be sure to include a literature cited section at the end that includes the full citation for each paper you select. Lit Cited does not count for the 2-3 page limit, it comes at the end and is in addition to the summary.
Literature Cited: Be sure to include a literature cited section at the end that includes the full citation for each paper you select. Lit Cited does not count for the min 2page limit, it comes at the end and is in addition to the summary.
In text citations and literature cited page should follow the style and formatting of journal Ecology. In text citations: (Wozniak 2021); (Wozniak and Smith 2021); (Wozniak, et al. 2021). An example journal article from Ecology has been uploaded. Be sure to look over the lit cited section in that paper and copy the formatting/style used therein.
-Written document should include a minimum of 2 pages of text. Remember to paste your population model after your literature cited. Use 12pt font, single-spaced, 1 inch margins. Literature cited and population model will be an additional page and does not count towards the page limit. Please avoid all
the normal tricks to stretch your text out longer (wide margins, big headers, multiple spaces between paragraphs, etc.).
-Assignments will be graded on both quality of writing, grammar and ecological content. Upload your
PDF or Word document into Bb. No hard copies or emailed versions will be accepted.