Meeting Abstract

P1.118  Jan. 4  Lab and field experiments: are they the same animal? CALISI, R.M.*; BENTLEY, G.E.; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Berkeley calisi@berkeley.edu

The vast majority of experiments involving vertebrates are performed in a laboratory environment. The main reason behind this is straightforward: to control as many environmental variables as possible, facilitating interpretation of the resulting data. In general, this type of experiment tends to yield relatively �clean� data and allows us to investigate the effects of a specific manipulation. If we can reject our initial null hypothesis, then we have a foundation upon which we can devise further experiments. However, what happens if we take our initial experiment out to the model organism�s natural environment, where there are numerous uncontrollable physical and socio-environmental factors? We would hope that our initial findings are the same as those gathered in the laboratory, or at least leaning in the same direction. Often they are not. Here, we attempt to highlight a few of the many instances where results from laboratory experiments differ to some degree from their field counterparts. Our goal is not to be critical of either lab-based or field-based experiments. Rather, we wish to emphasize the advantages of each type of experimental arena. In addition, we expect that investigation of findings from both settings in a complementary fashion will foster entirely new lines of research that might otherwise remain unexplored.