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Symbiosis is often mistaken to mean a mutually beneficial relationship, but it is actually a general interaction between two organisms. Symbiosis includes  mutualism, along with commensalism and parasitism. Mutualism is an interaction in which both organisms benefit. An example of mutualism is oxpeckers and zebras. Oxpeckers perch on the backs of zebras and eat ticks off of them. The zebras benefit because they are rid of pests, and the oxpeckers benefit by eating. Commensalism is an interaction in which one organism benefits and the other is fairly unaffected. An example of commensalism is trees and lichens. Lichens grow on the trunks of trees, using them for support, while the trees are not affected. The trees are not benefited or hurt. On the other hand, parasitism is an interaction in which one organism is benefited and the other is harmed. Examples include all parasites and their hosts. Just one example is the common head lice and humans. Lice attach to people's heads and feed on human blood, harming them. 

Ultrasounds are frequently used in the medical field to examine a specific region in the body’s inside. A few purposes include diagnosing pain, investigating infections, or examining a baby fetus in a woman's uterus. Furthermore, the procedure to perform an ultrasound is simple and requires minimal preparation, which makes it favorable to practice by nurses and doctors for their patients. In addition, ultrasounds are a safe and painless process that involves a probe and an application of ultrasound gel on the skin’s surface to inspect inside the body. High frequency sound waves are then transmitted through the probe and penetrate through the gel into the body. The machine then collects the sound waves and transforms them to create an image on the screen that can be analyzed. Not only can an image be produced but the transducer can additionally show the image in real-time and capture movement in the body’s internal organs such as blood flow. Lastly, the physical features can be seen such as flexibility of tissues. These analytical features allow ultrasound machines to be efficient for monitoring and diagnosing while simultaneously being safe to operate.  

I chose to record an interspecific interaction between a fiddle-leaf ficus tree and the vine plant growing up its trunk. I chose these two species for four reasons. These plants are located within Durfee Conservatory, a greenhouse complex open to the public, which is convenient both in that it is insulated from winter weather and that it is near Morrill, where our class takes place, and thus easy for me and whoever would replicate my methods to access. In addition, their location is fixed and their interaction is perpetual, meaning they can be found and their relationship documented regardless of the time lapsed between my observations of them and my partner’s observations of them. Furthermore, their precise location within the greenhouse is near easily identifiable landmarks such as the west doorway, the bench by the west doorway, and the koi pond, which meant that I could describe where they are in the conservatory in such a way that my partner could easily find them amongst the many different, densely growing plants. Finally, I chose these two species out of all the species in Durfee simply because I thought they looked interesting in a purely aesthetic sense, and therefore something I would enjoy taking pictures of. However, this was a minor motivation, and my primary consideration was ease of replicability.

          The differences of the placement of the letters within the white boxes are likely due to my stating in my methods only that I “arranged each text object so that they were in the center of a white square.” I did not indicate a specific action I took within inkscape to ensure the letters were actually centered, leaving how to achieve the centering to the reader’s discretion and therefore producing different results. The fact that the “a” and “b” labels were wider and the “c” label was narrower in Figure 2 than their counterparts in Figure 1 were likely a result of the creator of Figure 2 using the handles of the text objects to disproportionately resize the letters. These two factors together likely caused the different size spaces between the letters and the edges of the white boxes. The differences in the placement of the arrows relative to the edge of the images was probably due to me describing the location of the arrows in my methods not as being a specific distance from the edges, but located relative to objects depicted in the photographs, and the photographs being framed differently so that those components were in slightly different positions. The differences between the arrow heads in each figure was a result of me and my partner picking different styles, likely due to me not specifying which style I chose in my methods. 

A simple endocrine loop is one that involves only one hormone and maintains homeostasis. Most loops are stimulated by a humoral stimuli, or a change in interstitual fluid. An example of a simple endocrine loop is the parathyriod hormone. When there is a decrease in blood calcuim, the parathyroid glad acts as a sensor and control center, recognizing the change and signalling to an effort tissue. The effector, the parathyroid gland, releases the parathyroid hormone, which effects the bones, kidneys, and digestive tract. In the bones, osteoclasts break down bone and release calcium. The kidneys and digestive tract increase calcium reabsorption. Calcium levels increase in the blood until the normal level of blood calcium is achieved. A complex endocrine loop uses multiple hormones and has varied responses. For example, thyroid hormone is released when the body needs to increase metabolism. The signal goes to the hypothalamus which produces thyroid releasing hormone, which stimulates the anterior pituitary gland. The anterior pituitary glad then relases thyroid stimulating hormone which stimulates the thyriod gland to release thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone stimulates every cell in the body with a receptor for thyroid hormone to increase metabolism, heat generation, and growth and devlopment. 

          There were differences in the framing of each of the three photos which comprise the figures. Image “a” of Figure 2 diverged from the original in that it was framed such that the edge of the koi pond was not visible near the bottom of the frame, while more of the roof was visible near the top of the frame. Image “b” was also framed differently between each figure, with Figure 2 displaying a different side of the trunk of Species 1, more of the south-facing windows of the greenhouse on the right, and less of the concrete walkway along the bottom of the frame than did Figure 1. The leaves of Species 2 in Figure 2 appeared larger than in the same image in Figure 1, and are presented at a different angle. In addition, the koi pond was not visible in the background of image “c” of Figure 2 the way it was in image “c” of Figure 1.

Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new species arise. Two types of speciation are sympatric and allopatric speciation. In sympatric speciation, a single species diverges to become two distinct species due to sexual preferences, a separation by a reproductive barrier, or polyploidy. Over time, a single area may have a population experience distruptive selection. For example, consider a plant with different colored flowers. A species of beetles that inhabit the flowers, but have preferences for certain colors will diverege if the preferences are different among the beetles (some prefer red while others prefer yellow). In allopatric speciation, a separation, a geographic barrier between a once united group may cause the species to diverge as well. For example, in a pool that dries up and creating smaller pools, the fish that were once together become separated geographically. Over time, the fish will exert a preference for their own kind if re-united. This too, is an example of speciation of a single species, now separated by preferences due to evolution.

Research is best done from a variety of databases, and the library is a reliable source which data bases are paid for. When using Google Scholar, beware of “relevance” searches which rely on the number of links associated with the data base. This could be outdated over time. Documents may be sorted by dates as well, but it does limit the number of articles and also will display the results by when they were added, not when they were written. Furthermore, certain databases will not allow Google to flag the articles and will prevent it from showing up in the searches. Scientific research is extremely lucrative among editors and peer reviewers in order to improve research. Predatory journals do exist and are not verified and may show up in Google Scholar.

Axolotls are amphibians, specifically neotenic salamanders that live their entire lives under water- for the most part. Occassionaly, they will undergo metamorphasis and grow land limbs, but even then, they will spend most of their time under water. They are known for their incredible regenerative adaptation. Limbs that are lost are grown back and make full recoveries without any scars. When a limb is cut off, the cells lose their identity and become pluripotent cells, stem cells that take on the part that was lost. The extent of this ability is so profound that they scientists have been able to transplant the head of one axolotl onto the back of another and have them survive for months. Unfortunately, in the wild, they are only found in one location and are under critcal pressures of pollution, and are endangered due to loss of habitat. Originally, they were numerous in Mexico and were revered by the Aztecs during their peak.

Results

The original figure and replicated figure have many differences. The most apparent difference is the amount of photos making up each figure. The original figure consists of three photos while the replicated figure only consists of two photos. The replicated figure doesn’t include an interspecific interaction, additionally there is no arrows in the photo depicting an interspecific interaction. The replicated figure is also missing a photo of the dog by itself. The black outline of photos were different between the figures but consistent within. The map of campus where the observation took place was marked with a circle in the original figure and with an oval in the replicated figure, additionally the map was located on different sides of the original and replicated figures. The campus map is cropped on the replicate figure but not the original.

Discussion

The most major difference between figures (an absence of a photo in the replicate) was most likely due to the fact that the person observing the interspecific interaction was not able to observe the interspecific interaction. This would also account for an absence of arrows highlighting both species involved in the interaction. The black outline of the photos may be different because different editing softwares were used, this would also account for the orange circle being different on marking of the campus map. The campus map being cropped on the replicate but not on the original may be because the software used for making the replicate only allowed for a smaller image file.