# Ecology Intervention Study

**Time:** 60 minutes

**Level:** Secondary biology / environmental science
**SciFunLab guide:** https://scifunlab.com/topics/ecology-population-dynamics

## Learning objective

Use population evidence to explain how a controlled environmental intervention can affect producers, consumers, and system stability over time.

## Before the lab

Choose one proposed intervention in the ecology model. Predict which population will respond first, which will respond later, and whether the system will approach a new equilibrium.

## Investigation

1. Open the Ecology and Population Dynamics topic guide and launch the ecosystem lab.
2. Run an unchanged baseline long enough to observe the normal population pattern.
3. Record the baseline readings with **Lab tools**.
4. Change one intervention or environmental variable while keeping the other settings fixed.
5. Run the same duration and record the new readings.
6. Repeat once to check whether the pattern is consistent.

| Run | Changed variable | Producer response | Consumer response | Stability evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | None | | | |
| Intervention 1 | | | | |
| Intervention 2 | | | | |

## Explain the evidence

- Which response was immediate, and which response lagged?
- Did the intervention change population size, oscillation size, stability, or all three?
- What evidence supports the claim that one species or resource has a strong system-wide effect?
- Which real ecosystem processes are simplified or absent from this model?

## Extension

Propose a second intervention that could reduce an unwanted effect from the first. Predict the trade-off before testing it, then compare the evidence.

## Assessment evidence

Collect the initial prediction, baseline and intervention evidence, a causal explanation, a model-limitation statement, and the topic knowledge-check result.