BIOLOGY 281: Suraci Article

Why was it good to have this eperiment take place in Santa Cruz, CA?

• This region is close to the University fo Santa Cruz and therefore accessible for researchers

• This regin is far from the city and lacks unnatural disturbances

• This region consists of wildlife habitat in close proximity to urban and suburban development, and is heavily used by people

• This region contains many large carnivores to experiment upon

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

NGSS.MS-LS2-5

What is/are the native large carnivore(s) of this region? (select all that apply)

• mountain lion

• bobcat

• virginia Opossum

• striped skunk

Answer explanation

Bobcats, striped skunks, and Virginia opoussums are considered medium-sized carnivores or smaller predators

Why are tree frog noises used in the experiment? (select all that apply)

• They are ape predators and therefore mountain lions will react to their noises

• Wildlife are familiar with tree frog vocalizations, so their sounds are benign

• They are used as control vocalizations

• One of the treatments coniststed of solely tree frog noises

Answer explanation

compared wildlife responses to human vocalisations with responses to Pacific treefrog (Pseudacris regilla) vocalisations. Tree frogs, like humans, can be heard both day and night in our study area, but unlike humans, their perceived presence should be completely benign given that treefrogs are unlikely to be predators, competitors or prey of any study species. As discussed in detail in Appendix S1 (Supplementary Methods – Playback Treatments), there is ample evidence to suggest that wildlife in the Santa Cruz Mountains will be familiar with both human and tree frog vocalisations.

The researchers focused mountain lion movement analyses on only those periods when an individual was within audible range of a playback grid (termed an '_________'’ with the playbacks) and used a repeated-measures design to compare responses of individual mountain lions to both playback treatments

True or false: the inverse of average distance to the nearest speaker (an estimate of speaker avoidance) was taken to determine cautiousness

• True

• False

Answer explanation

the inverse of movement speed was taken as an estimate of ‘cautiousness’, moving more slowly being considered greater cautiousness.

How did Mountain lions avoid areas of perceived human presence? (select all that apply)

• Encountered playback grids less often when human sounds were broadcast

• Maintained a greater distance to the nearest speaker during human playbacks relative to controls

• Moved more cautiously when hearing human playbacks, and reduced average movement speed

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-2

What food was used in the feeding patches in the medium-sized carnivore foraging experiment?

• Scrambled chicken eggs

• Berries

• Apples

• Boiled chicken eggs

What effect did human presence have on small mammals?

• Decreased foraging behavior

• Increased space usage

• Increased foraging behavior

• Decreased space usage

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

Which species is know to have significant diurnal activity?

• Bobcats

• Mountain lions

• Virginia Opossums

• Deer-mice

How much did this presentation help you understand the article and/or feel more prepared to be tested in this material?

• 1 (not prepared at all)

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5 (very prepared)