Some forested areas of the country have large, flat-topped boulders left behind by glaciers. The tops of the boulders have become covered with lichens, grasses, shrubs, and even some small trees. Deer can jump onto the top of shorter boulders to graze; however, none of the deer can jump onto the tallest boulders. Scientists sampled vegetation from the tops of these boulders, some of which were grazed by deer and some of which were not. Scientists observed that the most diverse plant growth occurred on the boulders that could not be reached by deer.

Question

Some forested areas of the country have large, flat-topped boulders left behind by glaciers. The tops of the boulders have become covered with lichens, grasses, shrubs, and even some small trees. Deer can jump onto the top of shorter boulders to graze; however, none of the deer can jump onto the tallest boulders. Scientists sampled vegetation from the tops of these boulders, some of which were grazed by deer and some of which were not. Scientists observed that the most diverse plant growth occurred on the boulders that could not be reached by deer.

(g) Identify the control group for the investigation.

Answer 1

To identify the control group for this investigation, we need to determine which group was not exposed to the independent variable or intervention, which in this case is deer grazing.

In this scenario, the control group would be the boulders that were not grazed by deer. The reason for selecting these boulders as the control group is that they represent the natural state of plant growth without the influence of deer grazing. By comparing the vegetation on the boulders grazed by deer to the vegetation on the boulders not grazed by deer, scientists can determine the effect of deer grazing on plant diversity.