Biologists Quantifying Morphological Differences Mosses Comparison Lab Report School

I’m working on a Biology question and need guidance to help me study.

Background:

Biologists often quantify morphological differences between organisms. In this example, we are using leaf measurements taken from the two organisms that are suspected to be two separate species. Instead of simply stating that the leaves look different, we are using measurements of the leaves and comparing those measurements to see if there is actually a measurable/quantifiable difference.

The data is found in your lab manual on page 147 in widget 5.N.1, along with detailed instructions.

For this assignment, using the data mentioned above, please:

1. Calculate the average of the width divided by the length (W/L) for both species. So, you will have two averages to include in one bar graph. (*Note: the lab manual at the end of this activity mentions creating 2 graphs, one for length average and one for width average. Don’t do this. Make one bar graph with both W/L averages for the 2 species. This makes the two organisms much easier to compare.)

2. Calculate standard errors of these averages. Compare these + standard error bars. Remember, when comparing means, if the standard error bars do not overlap, then you may be confident that the groups are significantly different.

3. Write a short paragraph (2 -3 sentences) within a textbox in your Excel sheet interpreting the data (Do the data, as seen in your graph, support or refute the argument that the populations represent different species? How do you know?)

FYI: You can ignore question 2 on page 150 of the lab manual. I only want an interpretation of the data.

Submit your graph, calculations, and paragraph of interpretation as an Excel file saved as Yournamemoss.xlsx.