Evolution of Finches on Darwin and Wallace Islands

Evolution of Finches on Darwin and Wallace Islands

INTRODUCTION

      The Evolution Lab simulates environmental situations to determine effects on evolution over periods of time. This lab experiments with the evolution of finches on two different islands over 100, 200, and 300 years. By manipulating parameters that influence natural selection, the effects that natural selection have on the evolution process can be studied.

HYPOTHESES

    • The size of the island will influence the population.

    • The amount of precipitation will influence beak size.

    • The larger the clutch the higher the population over time

MATERIALS

The materials needed for this experiment consist of a computer and access to the Evolution Lab on the University of Phoenix student website. In the Evolution Lab there are two islands, Darwin Island and Wallace Island. There are seven variables that can be changed to run many different experiments on both islands. The variables are beak size, variance of beak size, heritability, clutch size, island size, population, and precipitation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Evolution Lab provides many variables. The user can change the following: beak size, variance of beak size in the population, heritability of the mid parent beak size, clutch size, island size, population of the finches to start the experiment, and precipitation on the island as it affects the hardness of seeds.. All of the numerous combinations of variables, set for two different islands lends for hours of combinations and sorting of information. The method this experimenter used to narrow down the countless options was to first focus on the beak size and precipitation for Darwin Island by changing the variables, recording the field notes for the population in 100 years. Second, keep the highest population information from the previous test and examine what changing the clutch size does to the population. Taking the information for the highest population from these two tests,...