Wading birds, such as herons and egrets, nest during the spring in Everglades National Park. Habitat destruction and historical overhunting led to decreased population sizes and increased risk of extinction of these beautiful birds. A long-term ecological research (LTER) project at FIU is investigating what environmental factors affect wading bird reproduction. You are an undergraduate honors student in a lab, and you have been provided with data on number of nests built by the anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), a wading bird. The lab group monitored 35 wading bird nesting zones both in 2014, which had few reported large predators like alligators, and again in 2017, which was a wet year (high precipitation and water levels in the Everglades). Based on observations of clutch size during 2014 and 2017, we could ask the following question: Does water availability in the Everglades determine clutch size in anhinga?

1. For the study above, identify the following:

a. The population being studied are the wading birds.
b. Sample
c. Parameter
d. Statistics

2. For the study above, identify the following:

a. Dependent variable
b. Independent variable
c. Is the independent variable categorical or numerical?