BIOL 484–Topics in Advanced Biology Lab & Discussion: Applied Animal Ecology Field Experience Spring 2023

Abstract

Listed herein are the poster presentations resulting from student final projects associated with the “BIOL 484–Topics in Advanced Biology Lab & Discussion: Applied Animal Ecology Field Experience” course offered during Spring 2023 at CSUSM, presented during the 3rd Annual Student Research Biological Sciences Symposium. The course was centered around a week-long field research excursion in the Suisun Marsh, California, during spring break (March 19-26, 2023). On campus before the field experience, 12 students worked in teams of four, each specializing on a different subtopic of Suisun Marsh animal ecology: “small mammals”, “birds”, “fish and aquatic invertebrates”, and “vegetation structure”. The teams worked together to pose scientific research questions and drafted concept maps of their proposed field projects. They then performed literature searches for pertinent methods for addressing their research questions, and drafted field protocols for their projects that incorporated all of the class members in the collection of their data. Each team coordinated the data-gathering effort for their respective projects in the field. After the field experience back on campus, students worked with their teams to compile field data and perform graphical, descriptive, and statistical analyses; build and deliver research posters for the 3rd Annual Student Research Biological Sciences Symposium; and produce final reports of their field work in the form of scientific papers. Included in this vignette are the following posters: “Bird Abundance and Diversity in Managed Wetland and Tidal Restored Habitats in the Suisun Marsh,” by Annette Castellon, Carolina Sandoval De La Cruz, Sharon O'Connor, and Steven McArthur; “Measurements of Aquatic Species Biodiversity along Managed and Tidal Regions of the Suisun Marsh,” by Tatsuya Sato, William Duncan, Madison Hinz, and Jocelyn Mendez; “Analysis of vegetation and soil salinities relative to salt marsh harvest mice presence in the Suisun Marsh,” by Kyra Amini, Maria Altamirano Chavez, Sophia Dehmer, and Katelyn Goodwin; and “Quantifying the Structure of Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Habitat,” by Dulce Robles Martinez, Arianna M. Ramirez, and Diego Sustaita.