Fiddler Crabs

A photo by B. Astorino, showing the many footprints, deer tracks, and raccoon tracks spotted on the north side of Spermaceti Cove. A photo by B. Astorino of the budding Seaside Lavender and Ulva lactuca . No crabs were spotted on either side during this counting session. This could be potentially due to the fact that fiddler crabs go into their burrows during the winter months. It was a sunny 16 degree Celsius day, with a 6 mph NNW wind. There was lots of Seaside Lavender and Ulva lactuca  on both sides of the Cove, which could have caused the lack of fiddler crab spottings. Lots of trash littered both sides of Spermaceti Cove.

Contact with Mrs. Zrada Date of email:  September 29, 2017 Contact:  Mrs. Zrada Reference: several questions regarding the type of data and statistics this project requires Questions:  In order to give Mrs. Zrada a better understanding of my project, she asked questions such as the type of data I have, what my research question or hypothesis is, and what type of statistics I think I will need for the project. Discussion:  I answered her questions in the following ways; I have quantitative data, I copied and pasted my hypothesis (refer to my hypotheses blog post), and said that I have a general idea of what statistical analysis this project requires, though am confused on which would be best for describing a certain relationship.

Contact with Ms. McDonald Date of email:  September 28, 2017 Contact:  Ms. McDonald Reference: October counting dates Discussion:  I sent Ms. McDonald the following dates that would be best to count fiddler crabs in the month of October. These include the 6 at 3:12 pm, the 12 at 7:45 am, the 18 at 1:41 pm, and the 30 at 11:10 am.  

What I've Done I have come up with the October fiddler crab counting days based on the full and new moons, as well as the low tides. These include the 6 at 3:12 pm, the 12 at 7:45 am, the 18 at 1:41 pm, and the 30 at 11:10 am. I emailed these dates to Ms. McDonald, as well. Continuing, I found the average, variance, and standard deviation for the fiddler crab counts based on the school year the data was collected in and whether or not the data points were from the north or south side of Spermaceti Cove.  Plans for Today I will count fiddler crabs at Spermaceti Cove at 10:15 am today and write a blog post about it. I will also continue to work on the statistics and formulate questions to both look up in trusted resources and ask Mrs. Zrada at our meeting on October 2. I will write a mentor contact for my email to Mrs. McDonald regarding the October counting dates. I received an email from Mrs. Zrada regarding the kind of data I have for this project, so I will respond to her

What I've Done I finished writing my hypothesis and null hypothesis. I established a meeting date for D. D'Albero an I to meet with Mrs. Zrada on October 2 to talk about the statistics part of our project. I made graphs for the data points, as well. Plans for Today I will begin working on the data collection (not due until October 6) blog post by compiling the graphs and tables I have created and adding commentary to explain what they represent.  Plans for the Future I plan to finish the data collection by tomorrow and start coming up with questions to ask Mrs. Zrada at our meeting, as well as working on the statistics (not due until October 6).

Contact with Mrs. Zrada Date of email:  September 22, 2017 Contact:  Mrs. Zrada Reference: potential in-person meeting date Questions:  In order to help D. D'Albero and I with the statistics portion of our project, Mrs. Zrada suggested we meet one day during class. Discussion:  We both decided that meeting at 8:00 am on October 2 works best for all three of us. Conclusions:  D'Albero and I will work to get as much done as possible and compile questions for Mrs. Zrada to answer at our meeting

Hypotheses Being Investigated Hypothesis: The Uca minax fiddler crab species located at Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook, New Jersey will increase as the years go on. Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in the  Uca minax  population at Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook, New Jersey over the years.

Contact with Mrs. Zrada Date of email: September 18, 2017 Contact: Mrs. Zrada Reference: questions regarding statistics for a population analysis Questions: How do I know if I have experimental errors and how do I use ROC curves to see how extreme they are? What are p-values, what are they used for, and how do I calculate them? How do I know whether my hypothesis or null hypothesis is correct? If the amount of crabs present is my only variable, can I not use t-tests to do this? If so, how else am I to test my hypothesis? Discussion: Mrs. Zrada asked which statistics course D. D'Albero and I took over the summer to prepare for the statistics that will be conducted in this project. She mentioned that I should not worry about ROC curves and that human error is always in any statistics. She said that p-values are very important and described the difference between null hypotheses and hypotheses, saying that I'll use t-tests to test while is correct. Conclusions: Wit

What I've Done I received an email from NOAA saying that their articles are not sourced and that they are reputable since they are a government agency. I have taken notes on two more primary sources. Plans for Today I will write a mentor contact log for my email to Mrs. Zrada and NOAA. I will put crab countings from this year and last year into an excel spreadsheet and make graphs. This will be used for the data collections portion of my project (not due until the sixth of October). Plans for the Future I plan to finish my hypotheses by the 22nd of September (not due until the twenty-seventh of September). I also plan to find more sources for the annotated bibliography. I hope to start the statistics portion of the project next week and prepare for our meeting with Mrs. Zrada on October 2 (not due until the sixth of October).

Contact With NOAA Date of email: September 18, 2017 Contact: NOAA Reference: the author of their article "What is a Salt Marsh?" Question: asked if they know the author of their article Discussion: NOAA responded to my email saying that they do not attribute their stories to one particular author, but rather that their information is reputable since they are a United States government agency, everything on their website can be used by the public. Conclusions: With this being said, their information, while not a primary source as there is no specific scientist associated with it, can be used in my research and background information. 

What I've Done I got my background information checked by Ms. McDonald. I also emailed Mrs. Zrada several questions about statistics required for this project on the 17th of September. Plans for Today I corrected many source citations for the background information (not due until the 26th of September), as recommended by Ms. McDonald. I also emailed NOAA in order to figure out the author of their article "What is a Salt Marsh?." I also wrote a log entry for the fiddler crab counting conducted on September 15th. Plans for the Future I will write a hypothesis and a null hypothesis tomorrow (not due until the 26th of September). I also plan to find more sources about fiddler crabs and take notes on them.

Background Information   Uca minax  is a fiddler crab species commonly found along the United States' East Coast. All fiddler male fiddler crabs, regardless of the species, have a major claw, a claw that is significantly bigger than their other claw. This can be on either side, allowing a male fiddler crab to be characterized by either being left- or right-clawed. The minax species have horizontal indentations behind their compounded eyes, meaning their eyes are atop a stalk. Continuing, this species of fiddler crabs is brown and gray with red joints that connect the claws to the carapace and has eight walking legs that vary between being a light brown or dark green (Bethany Fisher). Fiddler crabs live in coastal wetlands in the intertidal regions of the coast, meaning seawater from the ocean periodically floods their habitat based on the high and low tides. Coastal wetlands are divided into the following three subsections: the high marsh, midshore, and low marsh. The high

A photo of the south side taken by B. Astorino. A photo of the blooming vegetation taken by B. Astorino. The purple bushlike plant is seaside lavender and the green flora behind it is pickle weed. When the tide goes out to sea, hundreds of mummichogs get stuck in this tidal pool, making them potential victims of hypoxia due to the lack of oxygen availability. Photo taken by B. Astorino The seventh count took place on 9/15, a 74º sunny day with 3.4 mph SW winds. D. D'Albero counted 32 crabs on the south side, while B. Astorino counted 7 on the north side. The seaside lavender has begun to bloom and massive amounts of pickle weed made it more difficult to spot the crabs. The ocean water was very calm, with little to no ripples. There were lots of raccoon tracks and litter on the north side of the walkway, while there were lots of baby crabs on the south side.

Group Design Brief By counting fiddler crabs at Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook, New Jersey, a population assessment will be conducted in order to determine the status of the species and, using statistics and past years' data collection, discover any population trends over the years. Individual Design Brief Researching the ecology of the Uca minax  fiddler crab and its habitat, the coastal wetland, will help to make sense of any population trends discovered. 

What I've Done I have acquired three new sources since my last log entry, but have not taken notes on them yet. Yesterday,  D. D'Albero wrote the introduction to the background information and B. Astorino wrote the final two body paragraphs. Plans for Today Today I will finalize the background information and get it checked by Mrs. McDonald to see if D. D'Albero and I have written it correctly. I will make whatever corrections need to be made and, time permitting, will work on the design brief and hypotheses for this project (not due until the 27th of September). D. D'Albero and I will count fiddler crabs and note observations about the weather and habitat at 11:15pm.  Plans for the Future This weekend I hope to form paragraphs of the source notes I have taken already. I also plan to continue taking notes on other sources to work towards the forty sources for the annotated bibliography (not due until the 6th of November). Monday the 18th, I plan to start wo

What I've Done Since my last entry, I have shared this blog with Ms. McDonald and Mr. Zrada. I have also started the mentor fact sheet (not due until October 25th). I reviewed the statistics needed to conduct a population analysis yesterday (not due until the 6th of October). Continuing, I have taken notes on four sources to count towards the forty I need for the annotated bibliography (not due until the 6th of November). Plans for Today Today, D. D'Albero and I will complete the first two body paragraphs for the background information. I also plan to take notes on at least three more sources to go towards the annotated bibliography and read excerpts from  Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences in order to be well versed in how to write a proper scientific paper. Plans for the Future The other three paragraphs for the background information are being worked on throughout the rest of this week. D. D'Albero and I hope to finish the background information by Fri

Plans for Today I am adding a calendar to this blog and putting due dates, counting dates, and other important dates onto it. I am also adding labels to all previous blog posts and reorganizing the blog to look more aesthetically pleasing. Plans for the Future I plan to start writing background information either this weekend or on Monday and finishing at least a paragraph a day. Between this weekend and next week I hope to get a good start on the background information, and potentially have it finished, and start coming up with the hypothesis statements by next Friday the 16th, or the following Monday, the 19th (The Background Information and Hypothesis Statements are not due until the 27th of September).