Scientific method and the toe-clipping wars

Mary Woodcock Kroble
Thursday 9 November 2006
Date: 4 July 2007
Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Speaker: Dr Kirsten Parris (University of Melbourne)

Abstract

Toe clipping is commonly used in population ecology to identify individual amphibians, particularly anurans (frogs and toads). My co-author (Michael McCarthy) and I have demonstrated a consistent, negative effect of toe clipping on the return rate of anurans, sparking controversy in the herpetological world. In this seminar, I will discuss the toe clipping story in the context of the modern scientific method, including issues of logic, statistical inference, the scientific review process and the ethics of field research

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