Guide to the study of animal ecologyAdams, Charles C. (Charles Christopher)
Science
Guide to the study of animal ecology
Adams, Charles C. (Charles Christopher)
Animal ecology
Field study is not confined to observations alone, but to the securing
of all kinds of evidence from the field which will aid in the
interpretation of the field relations of animals. Thorough intimacy
with the animals can only be acquired through repeated and prolonged
excursions in the field. This may mean excursions at any hour of the
day or night. Part of this familiarity is best acquired by an intensive
study of some limited area or association, and by thus establishing a
unit for comparison so that the differences in other places are more
readily perceived and described.
Before selecting a limited area for study one should make a general
examination of a much larger tract, so that one may be sure that the
area selected is a fair sample and worthy of the special study. There
are also many advantages in selecting areas little modified by man.
Such modified areas may, to better advantage, be considered later;
just as pathology should be studied after one is grounded in normal
histology. Undoubtedly the normal, or its approximation, is the best
foundation upon which to build, and here we have the educational
argument for natural preserves for animals and their superiority over
highly modified “parks” for the same purpose.
Having selected a locality, repeated and prolonged visits, careful
observation, and description of the place and animals will enable one
to acquire the desired familiarity. For the study of the behavior of
the animals concerned many observations can be made by remaining quiet,
carefully concealed, and recording all observations. This method is
particularly applicable to animals which live in exposed places, such
as many insects, birds, and mammals. For other kinds, only indirect
methods of observation are possible, or only when under controlled
conditions. For the indirect methods of observation many forms of
traps have been devised, traps not intended merely to receive the
dead animal, but those also which will secure the animal and reveal
something of its behavior. For the study of the habits and behavior of
such animals as live in the soil or under bark, etc., both extensive
collecting and examination of the animals in vivaria will also be
necessary.
Fortunately for the student of mammals, birds, and fishes we have
excellent guides for the technique of study and photographing of
individual and associated kinds in the works of Kearton (1907), Chapman
(1900), Herrick (1905), and Reighard (1908). It is very desirable that
these methods be applied to the interrelations among the animals of an
association. The student of behavior in nature has much to learn from
many excellent studies of animal behavior which have been carried on in
recent years by laboratory students. Fortunately the line between these
two methods of study is breaking down to the mutual advantage of each.
The border line between these two methods will give excellent returns
to any student well prepared in each line of work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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