Spot the flaw. A recent paper in the research publication Nature examined how fungi cause negative density dependence in plants—the tendency for high plant density to negatively affect plant survival. The hypothesis was that a higher plant density attracts more fungal pests, causing reduced survival. The figure below compares the strength of the density dependence in experimental plots with and without fungicide (a coefficient less than 1 indicates density dependence, whereas a coefficient equal to 1 indicates no density dependence). The circles show the estimated coefficient, and the bars show a 95% confidence interval. The authors concluded that fungicide removed the density dependent effect compared to the control. Is this a valid conclusion from these data? Explain why or why not.

Transcribed Image Text:

Density-dependent effect 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 Control Fungicide Treatment