Turtle Tracking: Dickinson Students Dive Into Conservation Science
Photo by Dan Loh.
video by Stephen Munchel
Mark-recapture is the name of the game in tracking the health of animal populations
Dickinson students are getting their hands dirty in the name of science! As part of their Biology 131 class, they ventured to the Huntsdale Fish Hatchery to study turtle populations.
Using the mark-recapture method, students captured, measured and released turtles to estimate their numbers. This hands-on experience is more than just a field trip; it's a valuable lesson in conservation biology.
“You catch a bunch of animals, mark them, let them go, and then you come out and do the exact same thing again at a later date,” says Professor of Biology Scott Boback. “And then you get to see what portion of them were already marked and then how many of them are new. Based on those numbers, we can actually get an estimate of the population size.”
By studying turtles, students can gain insights into the health of the ecosystem, as turtles serve as indicators of habitat quality.
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Published September 17, 2024