Question

How much does camouflage affect predation on mice by owls with and without moonlight? nearly half a century ago,
d.w. kaufman investigated the effect of prey camouflage on predation. kaufman tested the hypothesis that the amount of contrast between the coat color of a mouse and the color of its surroundings would affect the rate of nighttime predation by owls. he also hypothesized that the color contrast would be affected by the amount of moonlight. in this exercise, you will analyze data from his owl-mouse predation studies. how the experiment was done pairs of mice (peromyscus polionotus) with different coat colors, one light brown and one dark brown were released simultaneously into an enclosure that contained a hungry owl. the researcher recorded the color of the mouse that was first caught by the owl. if the owl did not catch either mouse within 15 minutes, the test was recorded as zero. the release trials were repeated multiple times in enclosures with either a dark-colored soil surface or a light-colored soil surface. the presence or absence of moonlight during each assay was recorded?

Answer 1

An independent variable refers to a parameter whose result is not illustrated. It relies on either the absence or the presence of another variable or parameter. In the given case, it can be observed that there is an existence of two variables.

One of them is the existence of moonlight. Either, there can be moonlight equivalent to a full moon or there can be the absence of moonlight signifying the absence of a moon. The second variable is the number of mice caught by the owl.

a) The color of the soil or the moonlight are the independent variables. It is a natural process, which is going to take place in spite of the absence or presence of owls or mice. It is demonstrated on the X-axis as either no moonlight or full moonlight, dark colored or light colored soil.

b) The amount of mice caught by the owl clearly demonstrates the dependent variables. It can be observed from the graph that the amount of mice, which are caught is affected by either the absence or presence of moonlight. This variable is articulated on the Y-axis, as a number of mice caught according to either the absence or presence of moonlight.