Sample Statistics. 1  x refers to a sample mean. 2  s refers to the standard deviation of a sample. 3  s2 refers to the variance of a sample. 4  p refers to the proportion of sample elements that have a particular attribute. 5  q refers to the proportion of sample elements that do not have a particular attribute, so q = 1 - p.
Ecology/Environmental Response. The most basic interest of ecologists is how organisms interact with their environment. Inanimate objects do not normally interactâthey are simply acted upon by forces in the environment. Organisms, however, cannot be totally passive within a chain of events and still sustain life.
Anything that provokes. a response in an organism is called a stimulus. A stimulus can be internal, or from. within the organism itself. A stimulus can also be external, meaning it occurs outside the. organism. Both internal and external stimuli can cause a response, or resulting reaction, in an organism. A response can be behavioral or biological. Behavioral responses typically. involve physical movements or reactions. Think about what happens when someone. touches a hot surface. The stimulus, a hot surface, is external.