Refer to the Journal of Biogeography (Dec. 2003) study of ants in Mongolia (Central Asia), Exercise 8.98, where you compared the mean number of ants at two desert sites. Since the sample sizes were small, the variances of the populations at the two sites must be equal in order for the inference to be valid.
a. Set up H_o and H_a for determining whether the variances are the same.
b. Use the data in the GOBIANTS file to find the test statistic for the test.
c. Give the rejection region for the test if α = .05.
d. Find the approximate p-value of the test.
e. Make the appropriate conclusion in the words of the problem.
f. What conditions are required for the test results to be valid?

Data from Exercise 8.98

The Journal of Biogeography (Dec. 2003) published a study of ants in Mongolia (Central Asia). Botanists placed seed baits at five sites in the Dry Steppe region and six sites in the Gobi Desert and observed the number of ant species attracted to each site.