A team of researchers observed that the acorn density of the oak forests in New York fluctuates from year to year and that mice populations in the forest were increased when the acorn density was high. These researchers asked, "If there are more acorns and mice in the forest, will there be a higher density of ticks that carry Lyme Disease?" They hypothesized that the number of ticks carrying Lyme disease would be high when acorn density in the forest was high.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers studied six unfenced oak forest plots in New York. Mice were initially removed from each plot by trapping. Four tons of acorns were added to three of the plots (with the help of some local girl scouts!). The remaining three plots did not receive acorns. Ticks were collected in 225 sections (15m X 30m) in each plot, and were identified and counted. The number of mice in each plot was counted also.
I get that the dependent variable is: the number of mice and ticks?
I am really lost on determining the level of treatment and number of replicates? Any help is appreciated. Would the number of replicates be three or six in this case?
How can you tell what the sample size is in an experiment like this?
