MATH 201 Statistics for Environmental Professionals Worksheet 5

Name

Suppose that you work for the conservation of natural areas at the Bureau of Land Management. Your section concerns the effect of wildfires on natural areas. Your supervisor asked you to analyze the temporal trend in wildfires. In particular, she is interested in the following associations:

1. Has the number of wildfires per year increased? The wildfires have decreased.
2. Has the total burned area (in acre) per year increased? The total acres burned per year increased.
3. Has the burned area (in acre) per fire increased? The total area of acre increased.

The accompanied data file contains the number of wildfires, total burned area, and burned area per fire in the U.S. from 2000 to 2019.

Question 1. Using Excel, create three scatter plots which show each association (year and number of wildfires, year and total burned area, and year and burned area per fire). Clearly label the graphs. Note that year should be on the x-axis. Attach the scatterplot to this report. Refer to the textbook 12.2. (15 pts.)

Question 2. Using the scatter plots created in Question 1, perform a visual assessments. Describe the trend, strength, and shape of each association. Refer to the textbook 12.2. (15 pts.)

Association between year and number of wildfires:

Association between year and total burned area:

Association between year and burned area per fire: