Integrative Assignment

Mini-research project

Research Project Guidelines — BCB743: Quantitative Ecology

You are required to design and undertake a collaborative mini-research project. The research must be planned and executed as though findings were intended for publication in a scientific journal. The purpose of this exercise is to integrate quantitative ecological methods with real-world (data-focussed) research practice. This will encourage independent design, in-depth analysis using skills learned in this module, and effective collaboration.

Although there will be weekly tasks associated with this module, those tasks do not carry any weight in terms of mark allocation towards your continuous assessment. As such, the only mark calculated for this module will originate from the successful completion of this research topic.

Project Scope and Orientation

• The project must be approached as if it were to lead to a publishable paper.
• This requires you to produce work of high analytical and conceptual quality, including the development of a clear research question, well-defined hypotheses, and a detailed, replicable methodology.
• Although the project will not necessarily result in publication, you should maintain the standard and discipline of professional ecological research throughout.

Collaborative Structure

• Since there are only three students in the class this year, the project will operate as a collaborative research group rather than a set of individual submissions.
• Students will collectively decide how to partition the project into several work packages—each constituting a distinct but integrated component of the overall study.
• Within the group:
  • One student will act as Research Leader.
  • Each work package will have a designated Work Package Leader, responsible for coordinating progress within their component.
  • All members are expected to contribute equitably to both intellectual and practical aspects of the project.

Data Requirements

• Each project must incorporate both:
  • Environmental data (e.g., climatic, spatial, or landscape variables), and
  • Species data (e.g., occurrence, abundance, or distributional records).
• These data sets should be combined within a quantitative ecology framework, so that you may explore ecological relationships through statistical and computational analysis.

Analytical Information

• Projects should examine how environmental drivers influence species distributions within South Africa.
• You are encouraged to develop your own specific objectives and hypotheses within this general theme.
• Analyses should demonstrate an understanding of ecological theory, data integration, and quantitative reasoning as covered in the BCB743 module.

Workload and Timeframe

• The project is designed for approximately five weeks of intensive collaborative work.
• Each work package should contribute substantively to the final report and share equal importance within the collective output.
• Progress will be tracked each week through brief updates and meetings to ensure that all components are advancing in a coordinated manner. During these meetings with me, you will discuss challenges, share your insights, and together we will refine your approaches if necessary.

Output and Potential for Publication

• The final submission should take the form of a consolidated research manuscript (thoroughly edited and laid out), integrating all work packages into a coherent study.
• If the project demonstrates a strong conceptual design and analytical quality, I may encourage you to revise and develop your work toward journal submission, with feedback and guidance from the course coordinator and invited reviewers.

Assessment Criteria

• The project will be assessed based on:
  • Clarity and relevance of the research question and hypotheses.
  • Appropriateness and rigour of the methodology.
  • Quality and depth of data analysis.
  • Integration of ecological theory with empirical findings.
  • Effectiveness of collaboration and contribution to the collective effort.
  • Overall presentation, including writing quality, figures, and tables.

To facilitate assessment, you will as a group also develop the assessment rubric, which I will then use to evaluate your work. In the rubric, you should clearly define the criteria for each assessment component and describe the standards for different levels of performance. Also, you will be asked to send me a brief reflection on your team memmbers’ contributions to the project, which will be used to assign proportional credit for the group mark.