CatchMeIfYouCan?

Question
Whatisthecurrentfrogpopulationofawetland?

Overview
Weusethecapturemarkreleaserecapturetechniqueforestimatingpopulations.Thismethod
isfrequentlyusedtomonitoranimalsandfishpopulations.Thedriedbeanswillrepresentfrogs
andthebowlwillrepresentthewetland.

Objective
Wewillestimatethetotalnumberoffrogsinthewetlandbowlhabitatthroughsamplingby
thecapturemarkreleaserecapturemethod.

Materialspergroupof2or3:
smallbowlwithdrybeans
marker
ResultSheet
calculator(oraclearhead)

Time
About50minutes

AdvancePreparation
 Assembleneededmaterialsandfillsmallbowlsorcontainerswith23handfulsofdriedbeans
IntroducingtheActivity
Youdonothavetocapturealltheanimalsinahabitattoknowhowmanyareactuallyliving
there.Thislabisasimulationofamethodthatecologistsusetoestimatepopulationsofreal
organisms(animals).

Procedure(foreachgroup)
1. Collectabowlofbeans.
2. "Captureasmallhandfuloffrogsfromthewetlandhabitatandcountthetotalnumberof
frogsselected.
3. MarkeachfrogonthefrontandbackwithanX.Thesewillrepresentthecapturedormarked
frogs(andis'A'intheformulawhichyouapply).
4. Returnthefrogstothewetlandandmixtheminwellwiththeotherfrogs.
5. Captureanothersmallhandfuloffrogsfromthewetlandhabitat.(C)Thiswillbeyourfirst
capturetrialtryingtorecapturemarkedfrogs.Countthenumberoffrogsinthehandful.
Thisrepresentsthenumberoffrogscaptured(andis'C'intheformula).
6. Countthenumberoffrogswhichyoufindinthiscapturetrialwhichhavebeenmarkedwith
anX.Thisrepresentsthenumberofmarkedfrogsrecaptured('R'intheformula).
7. UsetheformulashownontheResultsSheettoestimatethetotalnumberoffrogsinthe
wetlandhabitat.
8. Returnthefrogstothewetland.
9. Repeatthisprocessninemoretimes.
10. RecordalldataontheResultsSheet.
 RESULTSSHEET

FORMULAforestimatingpopulationsize

OriginalNumberMarkedFrogs(A) = MarkedFrogsThatAreRecaptured(R)

TotalPopulationInBowl(P) TotalFrogsCapturedinaHandful(C)

(Note:Pistheunknownyouaretryingtofind.)

Originalnumberofcapturedfrogs____________(A)

CaptureTrial FrogsCaptured FrogsMarkedthat PopulationProportion(P)

Number inahandful(C) areRecaptured(R)
1

10

Average population ____________________________________________________________

Total number of frogs in wetland __________________________________________________

 AssessingtheActivity
1. Estimatethepopulation(P)ofyourwetland
2. Doyouthinkthepopulationcouldbegreaterthananyofyourestimates?
3. Countthetotalnumberofbeansinthebowl.Howdoestheactualcountcomparewithyour
estimates?
4. Whyisitimportanttoreturnthefrogstothebowlandmixeachtimeyourepeatthecounting?
5. Whyisitagoodideatobaseanestimateonseveralsamplesratherthanjustonesample?
6. WhatwouldhappentoyourestimateifsomeoftheXsworeoff?
7. Howcouldsomethinglikethishappenwithfrogs?

Concept
Whileitisseldomfeasibletocountalltheorganismsinagivenarea,itispossibletoestimate
populationsizesbyanumberofmethods.Oneoftheseistocaptureacertainproportionofthe
population,markit,releaseitbackintothepopulation,andthenrecaptureaportionofthe
population.Bycalculatingwhatproportionsofthesecondcapturesaremarked(recaptures),the
populationsizecanbeestimated.