From Statistics to Ecological Analyses: An Application of the New York City East RiverIchthyology Database (ERID) Using Spreadsheets

Undergraduate biology students often have limited opportunities in a classroom setting to apply statistics quickly and effectively to real, current biological datasets. To address this concern, we developed adaptable, customized Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that enable instructors to teach students how to statistically explore, visualize, and analyze biological phenomena. To demonstrate the utility of these spreadsheets, data is provided from the East River Ichthyology Database (ERID, https://eastriverfishproject.org/), a database that hosts real, current, and regularly updated fish and water quality data from New York City's iconic East River strait, contributed by community scientists. ERID was initially developed in 2019 by a grant-funded partnership of environmental education organizations and academic institutions documenting fish diversity in NYC. In the present work, ERID data includes fish and water quality data, collection methods, and general locations from 2019. Broader findings and analyses from 2019 were published in Park et al. 2020, providing a convenient reference for instructors to contextualize student learning. Using the provided ERID spreadsheets, students can calculate descriptive statistics, generate a frequency histogram, calculate and visualize correlation and linear regression, and calculate and interpret Shannon-Wiener index values. We provide a sample activity focused on 2019 data from ERID on the popular New York sportfish striped bass (Morone saxatilis) to demonstrate the use of the spreadsheets together with a recently developed online web tool, Data Explorer by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) BioInteractive. This activity also aims to encourage a deep appreciation for integrating community science and fish biology in general.