eNews

#04 2024

How does habitat type influence the presence or absence of mammals?

By Joe Sibiya, Science Engagement Officer, Ndlovu Node, NRF-SAEON

The Ndlovu Node’s 19th grade 11 annual science camp was held at Wits Rural Facility in June this year. The theme for the camp was the value of biodiversity.

Dr Tony Swemmer, manager of the Ndlovu Node, led the science research project. To encourage the learners to brainstorm the activities for the science camp, he highlighted the importance of biodiversity as a “thermometer” that measures the health of life on Earth. Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on earth. A diverse environment is more sustainable and helps maintain balance in the ecosystem. All organisms depend on each other for survival and biodiversity ensures that the food web provides many food sources for living organisms.

Dr Swemmer recapped the scientific method to encourage learner participation in designing and conducting a scientific research project. Learners were divided into three groups to brainstorm their project (identify relevant meaningful questions and develop project ideas and fieldwork methods). The research project was designed to answer the question ‘How does the type of habitat at Wits Rural Facility influence the presence and absence of animals?’

The learners hypothesised that:

  • most animals will be found in areas with high vegetation.
  • more animals will be found in areas with high soil fertility (high clay content).
  • more animals will be found in areas with water.

Learning how to set up the camera (Photo: Joe Sibiya)

Setting up the habitat for observation (Photo: Joe Sibiya)

Materials and methodology used to collect data 

Motion sensor cameras were placed in different habitats and left for a minimum of 24 hours to collect data about animal movement. An auger was used to sample the soil, plastic bags to contain sand, flags to mark the area, tape to measure the area and a laptop to record and analyse data.

The following variables were used for the study:

  • Dependent variables (presence of animals).
  • Independent variables (soil fertility, vegetation greenness, slope and water availability).

Scatter graphs were plotted to summarise the results:

  • representing the relationship between the number of animals and the distance from the dam.
  • showing the relationship between the number of animals and the number of trees.
  • showing how vegetation affects the number of animals.

The three groups each chose four habitats as the study sites. A GPS was used to save the coordinates of each habitat.

The learners collect data in different habitats (Photo: Joe Sibiya)

After entering their data, the budding scientists learn how to analyse the data (Photo: Joe Sibiya)

The learners captured the biological data they collected on laptops. The data was analysed to gain further insight into the study habitats before a comparative study was done of the vegetation and animals in the different habitats.

The three projects showed different results and some hypotheses were rejected. Learners were able to draw conclusions based on the results of their study. This led to a fascinating and robust discussion among the groups as they communicated the data of their study.

The grade 11 learners engage with Dr Tony Swemmer, manager of the Ndlovu Node (Photo: Joe Sibiya)