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Niche Partitioning and DNA Metabarcoding

Launch Interactive
Topic
  • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Anatomy & Physiology
  • Animal Behavior
  • Ecology
  • Communities
Resource Type
  • Interactive Media
  • Click & Learn
Level
High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IBCollege
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Favorited By
23 Users
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Description

This interactive module explores niche partitioning, a mechanism that enables similar species of animals to coexist.

In the two modules of this Click & Learn, students investigate how different herbivores can share the same habitat without outcompeting each other. In Module 1, students collect and analyze data from photos of herbivores foraging in the Kenyan savanna. In Module 2, they learn about the technique of metabarcoding, analyze DNA sequence data to determine the diets of the herbivores, visualize the data using Venn diagrams, and then compare diets by performing Sorensen index calculations. Throughout the Click & Learn, students summarize their data, justify claims, and answer questions in a virtual notebook that can be stored and printed.

The accompanying worksheet guides students’ exploration.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

Student Learning Targets
  • Analyze and interpret real field data
  • Identify patterns in data using graphing and statistical methods.
  • Support a claim using evidence from ecological principles and authentic field data.
  • Explain concepts and models related to species co-existence.
  • Identify limitations of traditional forms of data collection
Details
Estimated Time
One to two 50-minute class periods.
Key Terms

barcode, biodiversity, buffalo, coexistence, competitive exclusion, diet, dung, impala, savanna, zebra

Primary Literature

Kartzinel, Tyler R., Patricia A. Chen, Tyler C. Coverdale, David L. Erickson, W. John Kress, Maria L. Kuzmina, Daniel I. Rubenstein, Wei Wang, and Robert M. Pringle. “DNA metabarcoding illuminates dietary niche partitioning by African large herbivores.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 26 (2015): 8019–8024. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1503283112.

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Accessibility Level

This resource and the accompanying documents comply with accessibility standards in accordance with the final rule for Section 508 of the National Rehabilitation Act.
Version History
Date Published 01.22.18
Date Updated 12.23.20
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

HS-LS1-1, HS-LS2-1, HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-6; SEP4

AP Biology (2019)

IST-1.P, IST-5.A, ENE-4.B; SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6

IB Biology (2016)

4.1, C.2

AP Environmental Science (2013)

II.A. II.C

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.2, 3.1

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9-12.7, ELA.WHST.9-12.1
Math.N-Q.1; MP1, MP2

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP2

Materials
Resource Google Folder (Link)
Student Worksheet (PDF) 752 KB

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