THE ISSUE

Biological control agents are used in a wide range of contexts to limit damage from pests. However, the broader ecological consequences of such agents often are unclear before ecological risk assessments are performed. This Figure Set guides students to think through potential consequences of using biological control agents, and then uses a specific study to challenge students to interpret results from laboratory and caged field experiments. This Figure Set also introduces the concept of functional responses to students.

ECOLOGICAL CONTENT

biological control agents, functional responses, predator-prey relationships, ecological risk assessments

STUDENT-ACTIVE APPROACHES

Think-pair-share, drawing predicted results, designing experiments

STUDENT ASSESSMENTS

answering questions on a worksheet, sharing responses with the class, and completing post-class homework that assesses understanding of key concepts

AUTHOR

Jeremy L. Hsu

Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University

hsu@chapman.edu

DOWNLOADS

• Full Article Text [docx] [pdf]

CITATION

Jeremy L. Hsu. 4 January 2018, posting date. Using functional responses to investigate the ecological consequences of an introduced biological control agent. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 13: Figure Set #1 [online]. https://tiee.esa.org/vol/v13/issues/figure_sets/hsu/abstract.html