Sex and the Single Guppy: Simulation

1. If being flashy and colorful attracts predators, why do you think guppies are so colorful?

To attract a mate. To blend in coral reefs. They could also have ravenous appetites, or high reproduction rates. This would allow populations to sustain themselves.

2. After viewing the guppy gallery, pick the fish you find most interesting. What is the fish’s scientific name, origin and average size? Describe the coloration of the fish you chose.

Brazilian guppy, poecilia reticulata, 3.5 cm

3. After viewing the predator gallery, pick the fish you find most interesting. What is the fish’s common name, scientific name, and origin?

Pike cichlid, Crenichla alta, 30cm, Trinidad and Latin America

4. View the guppy’s habitats, what habitat conditions would affect the predator populations?
A natural dam because then the predators would restrict upstream movement.

Endler’s Discovery and Variations of Guppy’s in Pools

5. Who is John Endler? What did he study and where did he study it?

He, an evolutionary biologist, studied the variation in guppies in Trinidad.

6. For each of the three stream areas, describe the guppy coloration:

Pool 1: Blue and orange splotches on their sides, with bright coloration and large spots.

Pool 2: Average coloration, with medium-sized spots.

Pool 3: Average coloration with small spots.


7. Develop your own hypothesis about guppy coloration. The hypothesis should answer the questions: Why do guppies in different areas of the stream have difference in coloration? (You can choose from the list on the simulation, or make up your own)

I believe all of the guppies need to balance the predators in the area (by becoming more drab), and need to pass on their genes (with causes more vivacity), so more predators will cause more drabness, and more females and less predators


Guppy Simulation

Guppy Simulation

% of Brightest Guppies
(10 generations) % of Bright Guppies
(10 generations) % of Drab Guppies
(10 generations) % of DrabbestGuppies
(10 generations)
Trial 1
Guppy: Even Mix
Predators: 30 Rivulus 60 20 13 7
Trial 2
Guppy: Even Mix
Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara 10 60 30 0
Trial 3
Guppy: Even Mix
Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara, 30 Cichlid 0 0 23 77
Trial 4
Guppy: Mostly Bright
Predators: 30 Rivulus 85 9 3 2
Trial 5
Guppy: Mostly Drab
Predators: 30 Rivulus, 30 Acara, 30 Cichlid 0 1 0 99

Summary
8. Describe how predators influence guppy coloration.
Obviously, the more predators there are, the more drably colored guppies survive which allows the passing on of traits.


9. Was your hypothesis correct, use your data to justify your answer.
Yes. As more varieties of predators were introduced, then more were drab. If only rivulii were introduced, then the bright guppies would become completely dominant.


10. What does it mean that “male guppies live in a crossfire between their enemies and their would be mates”?
It means that they have to choose between attracting the best mate through best color, or trying to stay alive with a drab color to evade predators.

11. Why do you think guppies in different areas of the stream have different coloration?
Because some physical features restrict larger predators. In one case, the area above a dam is very safe because of the loss of chance of going upstream.

12. What would happen to mostly drab guppies that were placed in a stream with very few predators?

They would either become colorful because of being able to attract better mates, or have their population completely explode. The latter would occur only if the physical features allowed.

13. What would happen to brightly colored guppies that were placed in a stream with many predators?

They would quickly fade away because of being so noticeably ostentatious. Unless drab guppies also existed, the guppy population would completely fade away.

Conservation for the People

Personally, I found this article quite informative. The idea of the two conservation strategies really provided a look into the world of bioconserviation and sustainability. I feel that the hot spot idea is much more, on paper, a more thought out and helpful idea, however I feel we need to start out with the services strategy because it will provide monetary results quickly and allow for hot spots to be preserved.

Biodiversity and Its Role in the Biosphere

1. Preserving biodiversity can certainly change the world. First of all, through natural processes, they allow for creatures to migrate and find and carve their own niches. Through the human "grapevine" (Props for Eli), this can or will spur the love of an environment, empowering others to help protect there biodiverse regions. Of course, the US needs to begin this revolution, because as we all know, monkey see monkey do.

2. Not only do they wreck there own unique and prized region, but that does not allow for gradual succession and evolution of those species. If it didn't even affect the ecosystems right now, that species may have been important in the future, where the ecosystem and biosphere may be more fragile because of growing human processes.

3.Not only will it allow for much more recreational activities, the natural medicinal uses will be lost. Of course the recreation will become much more important in people minds as humans become more lazy and automated. Then, the medicines could help with building up of the immune system, and could fight specific diseases, too. Also, as what happened with HIV/AIDS, new diseases may form, or old ones mutate, and those old cures would be lost.

Gases and Climate Change

Hypothesis: If the rubbing alcohol is lit with a lighter, then it will combust, albeit not on a large scale.

When the flame is held up to the cap, then the alcohol built up in the bottle, causing the kinetic energy to transfer to physical energy, and then the bottle flew across the room.

The greenhouse effect is the the process of greenhouse gases absorbing and trapping, reflecting it to space, which in turn brings it back and holds it hostage in the atmosphere. Some of these gases include methane, water vapor, ozone (which is actually good outside of the atmosphere) and carbon dioxide.



When the carbon dioxide gas is exposed to the catalyst, the candle, then it will ignite a large flame.

Highly unexpected. What I forgot is that the gas traps the flame, as in the greenhouse effect. And, fire needs oxygen to burn.

C02 may help plants, but once that ever important balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide is shifted, then we will have essentially time warped back into 200 million years ago. Everything is good in moderation.



When the hydrogen is exposed to the flame, a flame will be created by the chemical reaction of the two. However, I do not believe it will be as extreme as others.

Wow! Once the zinc was truly introduced, and the flame was exposed, the hydrogen began a reaction of continuous bubbles and crackling. A loud vinyl-like sound emerged, like fireworks would. I found it to be quite a good replacement for fuel.


Although solar electricity may not be a huge chunk of current electricity generated, it has massive potential if silicon reserves can be found in more places, because currently, only pricing is holding solar back. A different type of solar energy is more passive and can't be measured. This is created with strategic positioning of reflecting surfaces, such as windows, into a building to help prevent the cost of using air conditioner.

When the water is placed back in the water, then the can will steam all across the room.

Nothing really happened, and there was a sense of major disappointment from the bystanders. The water vapor did not really change into another thing.

If the can is put upside-down, then it will react and shoot up towards the ceiling.

Instead of the pressure lifting the can up, it instead shot back up into the can, causing it to collapse under the pressure. The loud crunching noise frightened the room, and the crunching was almost immediate.

Chernobyl Ponderings

My article was based on the surprisingly extended changes brought on by the Chernobyl disaster. First of all, I was surprised that nature's resiliency wasn't cleaning Chernobyl as fast as predicted. Some restrictions on goods for Russia and the UK may need to be extended to 50 years. Caesium-137, a highly volatile and radioactive element, has been found in fish in Norway and Cumbria at higher results than expected. Also, half-lives of some of the radioactive elements, after the first 5 year period of one cycle, slowed in their second half-live to 2 to 6 times longer. Most foodstuffs that would come out of that region will be restricted up to 100 times longer than planned. This includes the Cumbrian sheep, forest berries, fungi and fish.

1. Has half-life among other elements increased?
2. How can the UK and Norway efficiently test fish for raised cesium levels?
3. How can the authorities effectively tag and track contaminated animals, without complete animal censuses?

Chernobyl Questions

1. Was it caused by human error? Or by machinery?
2. Is the radioactive dust still "alive"?
3. Who has been singly blamed for this accident?
4. How many jobs were lost from it?
5. How much money, economically, has been lost from the shutting down of Pripyat?
6. Was this known in the Western world right away?

Love Canal Part 1

Have any independent groups done studies and cleared the area?

How many families who have been relocated have moved back?

Are tests still being done in the toxic area?

Are there other examples of places who have revitalized in a similar way that you plan to?

Has there been a disproportional amount of birth defects since 1978 in Love Canal?

Has native wildlife returned?