AP Environmental Science Owl Lab
1. The animal frequency chart differs from the biomass chart. In the biomass chart, the
largest amount of biomass was found to be from rats. In the Animal identification chart,
the highest frequency found were from shrews and mice. However, this change makes
sense, as the biomass conversion rates were different for each animal, and the rat had
the highest multiplication rate by far at 12 where shrews and mice had .25 and 1.0
respectively. Due to these small conversion rates, it would make sense that rats would
display as having the largest biomass.
2. The frequencies of animals identified indicate that the species that were identified the
most, likely were either much more available to the owl, or were the easiest prey to
capture.
3. There was no relationship between the prey type found and pellet characteristics. Each
pellet looked relatively similar, and there was a fair mix of prey types in each.
4. The Northern Spotted Owl was most likely not what produced the pellets analyzed,
because the prey types found do not match the normal prey of the species. The typical
prey type of the spotted owl is usually small rodents, similar to the ones found, however
it also includes small lizards and insects as well, and no remnants of those animals were
found.