How Many Critters Can an Island Hold? Using Digitized Natural History Collections to Test Real Hypotheses about Island Biogeography
Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2019, Volume 40
Abstract
Quantitative and data literacy skills are vital to the advancement of biological theory, as large data sets and quantitative modeling are increasingly used to answer critical questions in ecology. Increased availability of educational modules that teach quantitative and data literacy skills in ecological contexts may encourage faculty to incorporate more of these skills into their courses. To help meet this need, we customized and extended a teaching module on Island Biodiversity, as part of an iDigBio Workshop on Resources for Collections-Based Undergraduate Research. In this module, students create and test hypotheses about island biodiversity using information from the Arctos database, an online repository for natural history collections data. Students evaluate and analyze the downloaded data, test their hypotheses, and draw conclusions from their results. This module is highly adaptable, requires only a computer and internet access, and can be extended to suit a variety of curricula.
Keywords: island biogeography, species richness, natural history collections, data literacy, digital data, museum collections
