aswan's blog

In this population lambda changes slightly over time, starting at 1.41 before dropping down to 1.34 and rising again to 1.43 where this value becomes regulated. This indicates that the population growth rate drops before becoming regulated. This compares to the growth of the hypothetical population described in Figure 10.8 as 10.8.B indicates that the population growth rate drops from an initial point before rising again and then becoming regulated. While in this figure there is more fluctuation in the growth rate overall, and there exists two larger drops in growth rate before regulation, the pattern of a growth drop-off before growth regulation is still reflected in both examples. I predict the population will continue to grow steadily as the lambda also known as the growth rate remains constant. The population will continue to grow in future years with the age-specific survival rates not changing. However, such growth cannot extend on forever, at some point the population will reach its carrying capacity in which resources are limited to a point where further population cannot be sustainably maintained. 

In this population lambda changes slightly over time, starting at 1.41 before dropping down to 1.34 and rising again to 1.43 where this value becomes regulated. This indicates that the population growth rate drops before becoming regulated. This compares to the growth of the hypothetical population described in Figure 10.8 as 10.8.B indicates that the population growth rate drops from an initial point before rising again and then becoming regulated. While in this figure there is more fluctuation in the growth rate overall, and there exists two larger drops in growth rate before regulation, the pattern of a growth drop-off before growth regulation is still reflected in both examples. I predict the population will continue to grow steadily as the lambda also known as the growth rate remains constant. 

In this population lambda changes slightly over time, starting at 1.41 before dropping down to 1.34 and rising again to 1.43 where this value becomes regulated. This indicates that the population growth rate drops before becoming regulated. This compares to the growth of the hypothetical population described in Figure 10.8 as 10.8.B indicates that the population growth rate drops from an initial point before rising again and then becoming regulated. 

There were approximately thirteen observational  differences between Figure 1 and Figure 2. Beginning with the photos, in Figure 1 the top left image, or image A was taken from a straightforward shot that includes the bottom landing where the spider web was located. The original photo also includes an arrow pointing at the web. In the recreation (Figure 2) the photograph seems to be sideways, with an arrow pointing to the left side of the staircase at a location that is not where the spider web is located. The two images of the respective figures also differ in their labelling with the original photograph containing a label A that is contained in a box with black borders that appears proportional in size to the picture and does not appear stretched. In the recreation the label does not contain a black border and the letter appears to be larger than the original and stretched more horizontally.

When comparing the bottom left images of the figures, images B, differences are present. One difference is that the Figure 1 image B does not contain a URL and contains a marker on the portion of Morrill 4 where the photos were taken. In the Figure 2 image B the screenshot contains the URL of the website used to create the map and the marker appears to be placed on top of North Pleasant street. The two photos are also different due to their respective labels, with the orignal having a box that has a black outline, while the recreation has a label that has no border and that has a letter that is stretched horizontally. The images on the right side of the different figures are also different in several ways. The original figure, Figure 1, contains on its right side a image of a spider web at the base of the stairs in respect to the location described in the methods section. The photograph in Figure 1 also contains a ten dollar bill for the purpose of providing a real life scale for an observer. In Figure 2 image B, the recreation of the original figure seems to be picture of a different spider web near the location described in the methods and contains no ten dollar bill for scale. This image also appears to have a much shorter height than the image that can be found in the original figure.

Organizationally, the two figures diverge due to the height difference of the image on the right side of the figure in the recreation and the photo on the right side (Figure 1, image C) in the original figure (Figure 1). The photo in the recreation figure (Figure 2) does not extend down to the bottom edge of the images on the left side, creating a large, box-sized gap in the figure that is not present in the original figure. This creates a stark contrast, with Figure 1 being held to the shape of a structured box and the recreation maintaining an uppercase L shape.  

Organizationally, the two figures diverge due to the height difference of the image on the right side of the figure in the recreation and the photo on the right side (Figure 1, image C) in the original figure (Figure 1). The photo in the recreation figure (Figure 2) does not extend down to the bottom edge of the images on the left side, creating a large, box-sized gap in the figure that is not present in the original figure. This creates a stark contrast, with Figure 1 being held to the shape of a structured box and the recreation maintaining an uppercase L shape.  

When comparing the bottom left images of the figures, images B, differences are present. One difference is that the Figure 1 image B does not contain a URL and contains a marker on the portion of Morrill 4 where the photos were taken. In the Figure 2 image B the screenshot contains the URL of the website used to create the map and the marker appears to be placed on top of North Pleasant street. The two photos are also different due to their respective labels, with the orignal having a box that has a black outline, while the recreation has a label that has no border and that has a letter that is stretched horizontally. The images on the right side of the different figures are also different in several ways. The original figure, Figure 1, contains on its right side a image of a spider web at the base of the stairs in respect to the location described in the methods section. The photograph in Figure 1 also contains a ten dollar bill for the purpose of providing a real life scale for an observer. In Figure 2 image B, the recreation of the original figure seems to be picture of a different spider web near the location described in the methods and contains no ten dollar bill for scale. This image also appears to have a much shorter height than the image that can be found in the original figure.

There were approximately thirteen observational  differences between Figure 1 and Figure 2. Beginning with the photos, in Figure 1 the top left image, or image A was taken from a straightforward shot that includes the bottom landing where the spider web was located. The original photo also includes an arrow pointing at the web. In the recreation (Figure 2) the photograph seems to be sideways, with an arrow pointing to the left side of the staircase at a location that is not where the spider web is located. The two images of the respective figures also differ in their labelling with the original photograph containing a label A that is contained in a box with black borders that appears proportional in size to the picture and does not appear stretched. In the recreation the label does not contain a black border and the letter appears to be larger than the original and stretched more horizontally.

In Fall 2018, as part of the Writing in Biology Class at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I conducted a project in which I was tasked with creating a scientific figure and a METHODS section detailing how the figure was created. In the methods project I was instructed  to locate and photograph a spider web, then use the photographs that were taken and other resources to create a figure alongside a methods section of a standard scientific report. The methods section was meant to detail how each individual experimenter approached the problem, and investigate how they went about finding and documenting their spider web. The methods section needed to be a clear, concise set of steps that could be easily replicable by another individual so that they too could take similar pictures and create a figure resembling the original.The goal of the project was to create a methods section that would be clear enough for another personal to follow, allowing them to recreate the original figure accurately. This is an extremely valuable skill for any scientist, as scientific work needs to be replicable for its results to be held valid.  I kept these objective in mind seeking to maintain factors of setting, organization, and photographic consistency within the figures through a highly structured and clear methods section. My methods section was written in a way to provide specific conditions for consistency such as including the direction of photographic shots and control factors such as having a ten dollar bill for scale.

In the Fall of 2018 in Bio 312 Writing in Biology students partook in a project in which they were required to create a scientific figure of a spider web and related images pertaining to its location. Once this figure was created we were instructed to create a methods section detailing how we individually went about creating our figure, which included but were not limited to how we found our spider web, the conditions of our photographs, and how we used digital tools to assemble images. With our figures and methods created, each student swapped their methods section with another student so that their colleague could attempt to recreate their figure. Once each individual received their recreated figure they were tasked with detailing the differences between the two figures in the RESULTS section of the report.  After, detailing these differences, the reasoning for the differences were to be explained by the DISCUSSION section. In my report approximately thirteen notable differences between the figures are distinguished and their causes are explored. This project demonstrated the difficulty of replicability in science, with factors such as human errors, conditional differences, and imperfection in the methods section affecting the outcome of having a recreated figure accurately reflect the original figure.

Figure 1. Picture of a cactus. The cactus has other plant debris stuck in its thorns, was taken at Balboa park. "Balboa Park. Mostly I visted the cactus garden this day..." by Spifferella at flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/saynathespiffy/44363336205/in/photostream/ shared under a creative commons (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) license.