Removal of unique combinations of frog toes is commonly used by amphibian resear
ID: 2909193 • Letter: R
Question
Removal of unique combinations of frog toes is commonly used by amphibian researchers to identify individuals in studies of population ecology. Because of concern that this method (“toe clipping”) may harm the study organisms, researchers in three separate studies investigated relationships between the number of toes clipped and the probability of recapturing individuals in three different populations of the great barred frog. In these studies, frogs were captured over a period of one month, and a unique combination of digits were removed from previously unmarked individuals. The incidence of recapturing these marked individuals 12 months later was recorded. The resulting data were analyzed using linear regression. A decline in the recapture rate with an increasing number of toes clipped would indicate a deleterious effect of toe clipping on the species. The data from the three studies are given below.
The results of the linear regression analyses are given below. The P value for the test of the null hypothesis of zero slope is based on a two-tailed test.
What can you conclude about the effect of toe clipping on this species of frog? Discuss whether the results from the different studies are consistent.
Explanation / Answer
in study 2 the p-value =0.009 of the slope is less than typical value of alpha=0.05, so in this study 2 the slope is significant i.e. it is different from zero. This conclude that there is effect of toe clipping on this species ( study 2) of frog.
in study1 and study3, the p-value of the slope is more than typical value of alpha=0.05, so there is no effect of toe in these two species( study1 and study3)