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A plant pathologist wanted to examine the effects of two different strengths of tobacco virus on the number of lesions on tobacco leaves. She knew from pilot studies that leaves were inherently very variable in response to the virus. In an attempt to account for this leaf to leaf variability, both treatments were applied to each leaf. Eight individual leaves were divided in half, with half of each leaf inoculated with weak strength virus and the other half inoculated with strong virus. So the leaves were blocks and each treatment was represented once in each block. A completely randomised design would have had 16 leaves, with 8 whole leaves randomly allocated to each treatment.
Open the tobacco data file.
Since each level of treatment was applied to each leaf, the data represents a randomized block design with leaves as blocks.
The variable LEAF contains a list of Leaf idenfification numbers and is supposed to represent a factorial blocking variable. However, because the contents of this variable are numbers, R initially treats them as numbers, and therefore considers the variable to be numeric rather than categorical. In order to force R to treat this variable as a factor (categorical) it is necessary to first convert this numeric variable into a factor (HINT).
Question 2 - Simple Repeated measures
Driscoll and Roberts (1997) investigated the impact of fuel-reduction burning on the number of individual male frogs calling. Matched burnt and unburnt sites were blocked within six drainages, and the difference in number of calling male frogs between the sites was recorded for each drainage on three occasions (a 1992 pre-burn and two post burns in 1993 and 1994). They were primarily interested in investigating whether the mean difference in number of calling frogs between burn and control sites differed between years.
Open the driscoll data file. HINT. Since years are listed as numbers, ensure that you define YEAR as a factorial variable (HINT).
In an attempt to understand the effects on marine animals of short-term exposure to toxic substances, such as might occur following a spill, or a major increase in storm water flows, a it was decided to examine the toxicant in question, Copper, as part of a field experiment in Honk Kong. The experiment consisted of small sources of Cu (small, hemispherical plaster blocks, impregnated with copper), which released the metal into sea water over 4 or 5 days. The organism whose response to Cu was being measured was a small, polychaete worm, Hydroides, that attaches to hard surfaces in the sea, and is one of the first species to colonize any surface that is submerged. The biological questions focused on whether the timing of exposure to Cu affects the overall abundance of these worms. The time period of interest was the first or second week after a surface being available.
The experimental setup consisted of sheets of black perspex (settlement plates), which provided good surfaces for these worms. Each plate had a plaster block bolted to its centre, and the dissolving block would create a gradient of [Cu] across the plate. Over the two weeks of the experiment, a given plate would have pl ain plaster blocks (Control) or a block containing copper in the first week, followed by a plain block, or a plain block in the first week, followed by a dose of copper in the second week. After two weeks in the water, plates were removed and counted back in the laboratory. Without a clear idea of how sensitive these worms are to copper, an effect of the treatments might show up as an overall difference in the density of worms across a plate, or it could show up as a gradient in abundance across the plate, with a different gradient in different treatments. Therefore, on each plate, the density of worms (#/cm2) was recorded at each of four distances from the center of the plate.
Open the copper data file. HINT. Notice that both the PLATE variable and the DIST variable contain only numbers. Make sure that you define both of these as factors (HINT)
In an honours thesis from (1992), Mullens was investigating the ways that cane toads ( Bufo marinus ) respond to conditions of hypoxia. Toads show two different kinds of breathing patterns, lung or buccal, requiring them to be treated separately in the experiment. Her aim was to expose toads to a range of O2 concentrations, and record their breathing patterns, including parameters such as the expired volume for individual breaths. It was desirable to have around 8 replicates to compare the responses of the two breathing types, and the complication is that animals are expensive, and different individuals are likely to have different O2 profiles (leading to possibly reduced power). There are two main design options for this experiment;
Open the mullens data file. HINT. Notice that both the O2LEVEL variable contains only numbers. Make sure that you define both of this as a factors (HINT)