Research Notebook

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Research Notebook
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I. Purpose and Importance

• A complete record of research ideas, activities,
  and findings.
• A contemporaneous record, i.e. recorded at the
  time, not from memory.
• Permits later re-analysis of data.
• Legally admissible in disputes about
• intellectual property
• patents
• fabrication or falsification of results

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II. Types of Notebooks

• Minimum requirements
• Graph paper
• Numbered pages
• Bound
• Optimal attributes
• Duplicate pages

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III. Content

• Err on the side of too much detail
• Table of contents
• Update every few days
• Date all entries
• Each entry has abbreviated title
• Observations
• Experimental protocol in detail
• Include figures, diagrams where needed
• Information on instruments
• Sample calculations, etc.
• Data ALL of it

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III. Content

• Data
• Ways to put in data
• Narrative form
• Repetitive data?
• Table
• Data sheet
• Tape, all 4 sides, and outline area in notebook
• Refer to their presence in your narrative
• Data Analysis

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III. Content

• Modifications to protocol
• Actual measurements if they differ from intended
  values in the protocol
• Unusual findings
• Conclusions, speculations, hypotheses
• Ideas for future research
• General thoughts (relevant ones, please)

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IV. Do's and Don'ts

• Use a pen
• Bring your notebook every time you might do any
  research.
• Make entries while you are in the lab, or very
  soon thereafter. No catching up.
• Sign every page when it is finished.
• Always write entries directly in notebook
• Keep a copy in a separate location

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IV. Do's and Don'ts

• Make photocopies of data transferred into the
  notebook - be sure to include the source of the
  information
• Don't copy data from one page to another
  photocopy and tape instead
• Try to be legible. But its not a beauty contest.
  DO NOT take rough notes elsewhere and recopy.

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IV. Do's and Don'ts

• Never tear out an original page
• Don't erase or conceal a mistake. Cross out (one
  single line) so that erroneous text remains
  legible.
• Dont let your notebook become a folder of loose
  data sheets. If they belong in the notebook,
  attach them permanently.
• Don't include your literature search results
• Avoid irrelevant information (shopping lists,
  to-do lists, love notes).

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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature - 10-15 species of
mycophagous flies use soft-bodied mushrooms as
larval resources
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature - 10-15 species of
mycophagous flies use soft-bodied mushrooms as
larval resources - these resources are
ephemeral they rot fast
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature - 10-15 species of
mycophagous flies use soft-bodied mushrooms as
larval resources - these resources are
ephemeral they rot fast - sometimes, the
mushroom is consumed completely by larvae
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature - 10-15 species of
mycophagous flies use soft-bodied mushrooms as
larval resources - these resources are
ephemeral they rot fast - sometimes, the
mushroom is consumed completely by larvae -
the last two points suggest that competition
might be intense, yet the coexistence of so many
species suggests that it is either rare, or
species have adapted to it, or partition
resources and dont compete.
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature Questions - Do species
compete for food at the larval stage? (or do they
partition resources and NOT compete?)
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature Questions - Do species
compete for food at the larval stage? (or do they
partition resources and NOT compete?) - If so,
what effect does competition have?
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature Questions - Do species
compete for food at the larval stage? (or do they
partition resources and NOT compete?) - If so,
what effect does competition have? - decrease
food availability - increase larval period? -
decrease larval period of survivors? - reduce
survivorship (to pupation and to adulthood) -
decrease mean mass of survivors? - increase
mean mass of survivors? (If only the largest
survive).
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
I. Pattern in Nature Questions Additional
Patterns in Nature - D. putrida abundance
increases during droughts - D. putrida emerges
later than D. tripunctata - D. putrida is
smaller than D. tripunctata, and may survive at
small fractions of ideal body mass and water
content.
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
Working hypothesis Competition within and
between these species will cause a decrease in
survivorship and mean size.
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies
Working hypothesis Competition within and
between these species will cause a decrease in
survivorship and mean size. Alternatives - no
effects - increase in survivorship and or mean
mass (Allee Effect) - decrease in survivorship,
increase in mean mass only large ones survive.
- effects differ across life cycle stages
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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies

• II. Experimental Design
• Overview
• First instar larvae placed on mushroom sections
  (1.0g) in Drosophila vials with moist wood chips.
• Incubate for 2 weeks _at_ 26oC
• Collect pupae and adults

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Project 1 Competition in Mycophagous Flies

• II. Experimental Design
• Overview
• -Treatments
• 1 20 D. putrida larvae
• 2 40 D. putrida larvae
• 3 20 D. putrida larvae and 20 D. tripunctata
  larvae
• 4 40 D. tripunctata larvae
• 5 20 D. tripunctata larvae

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-Treatments 1 20 D. putrida larvae 2 40 D.
putrida larvae 3 20 D. putrida larvae and 20 D.
tripunctata larvae 4 40 D. tripunctata larvae 5
20 D. tripunctata larvae -Measured Dependent
Variables Number of pupae of each
species Number of adults of each species Mean dry
mass of individuals of each species
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-Measured Dependent Variables Number of pupae of
each species Number of adults of each
species Mean dry mass of individuals of each
species -Analyzed (including derived) Dependent
Variables survivorship to pupation (
pupae/number of larvae) survivorship to
eclosion (adults/number of larvae) pupal
survivorship (adults/of pupae) mean dry
mass/individual/species
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-Treatments 1 20 D. putrida larvae 2 40 D.
putrida larvae 3 20 D. putrida larvae and 20 D.
tripunctata larvae 4 40 D. tripunctata larvae 5
20 D. tripunctata larvae -Treatment Contrasts
(for each dependent variable) (1 vs. 2 vs. 3) 1
vs. 2 Intraspecific density effects on D.
putrida 1 vs. 3 Interspecific density effects on
D. putrida 2 vs. 3 Relative effects of intra-
and interspecific density on D. putrida (3 vs. 4
vs. 5) 5 vs. 4 Intraspecific density effects on
D. tripunctata 5 vs. 3 Interspecific density
effects on D. tripunctata 4 vs. 3 Relative
effects of intra- and interspecific density on D.
tripunctata
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-Treatments 1 20 D. putrida larvae 2 40 D.
putrida larvae 3 20 D. putrida larvae and 20 D.
tripunctata larvae 4 40 D. tripunctata larvae 5
20 D. tripunctata larvae -Treatment Contrasts
(for each dependent variable) 1 vs. 5
Differences in habitat suitability at low
density 2 vs. 4 Differences in habitat
suitability at high density
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• -Treatments
• 1 20 D. putrida larvae
• 2 40 D. putrida larvae
• 3 20 D. putrida larvae and 20 D. tripunctata
  larvae
• 4 40 D. tripunctata larvae
• 5 20 D. tripunctata larvae
• -Treatment Contrasts (for each dependent
  variable)
• 1 vs. 5 Differences in habitat suitability at
  low density
• 2 vs. 4 Differences in habitat suitability at
  high density
• Statistical Tests
• All comparisons will be mean comparison tests,
  using multiple t-tests / ANOVA, or a suitable
  non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney /
  Kruskal-Wallis test).