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As an ecologist, you study the relationships between living things and their environment. You study and monitor all kinds of aspects of natural and managed ecosystems, for example temperatures and rainfall, competition for food and habitat, predation, disease, and human activities such as farming, hunting, and industry. Your work is used to answer questions of conservation such as how many fish or deer can be harvested, questions of environmental protection, such as whether a species is in danger and what can be done about it, and questions of management and environmental stewardship, such as where parks and protected areas should be located.
Imagine standing knee-deep in a fast-moving, frigid creek 20 metres from where it runs into a spectacular alpine lake. In front of you is a large fishing net strung between the creek's banks, and caught in it are five enormous bull trout. You are an ecologist and you've been here for two weeks gathering data on the endangered bull trout population. Two decades ago, the province wanted to encourage sport fishing and tourism in the area, so it introduced rainbow and brown trout to the lake. These new species became direct competitors with the bull trout for food and habitat, sending the bull trout population into sharp decline. Years of study and work have been dedicated to reviving the bull trout population by removing the introduced fish. You are here to see if these measures are working. As an ecologist, you spend a lot of time studying the population dynamics of the bull trout, and this time of year is always hectic for you. This is when the bull trout make a run up the creek to spawn, giving you your best opportunity to gather data. The fishing net contraption you have placed across the creek allows the trout to swim upstream to their spawning grounds but catches them before they return to the lake. Several times a day, you wade out to the nets to grab the fish that have been caught and bring them to your mobile station on the bank. One at a time, you put the bull trout in a basin of water with a bit of anaesthetic that temporarily sedates the fish so you can work with each one for about 10 minutes. When the fish is sufficiently calm, you take it out of the basin and check for an identification chip implanted just under the skin. If the fish doesn't have a chip, it's probably a juvenile born last year, in which case you will implant a chip before putting it back in the water. Once you have identified the fish, you measure its length and weigh it on your portable scale. You then put the fish in another tank, where you will keep it until the anaesthetic's effects have worn off and the fish can be safely returned to the creek to continue on its way to the lake. Once the spawn is over, you will compare the data from this year to years previous. The ID chip lets you track each fish individually so you can check if it is growing longer and gaining weight, indications of an abundant food supply. Also, the ID chip lets you measure recruitment rates by counting how many new juveniles are caught without chips, as well as death rates by counting how many fish from last year didn't return to the creek. These factors will allow you to evaluate the recovery of the lake's bull trout population. After a couple long weeks in the field, you will return to your office and begin analyzing all the data using statistical software to indicate the size and growth of the bull trout population and whether it is going to survive in the lake.