Question: Beavers and beetles Do beavers benefit beetles? Researchers laid out 23 circular plots, each 4 meters in diameter, in an area where beavers were cutting down cottonwood trees. In each plot, they counted the number of stumps from trees cut by beavers and the number of clusters of beetle larvae. Ecologists think that the new sprouts from stumps are more tender than other cottonwood growth, so that beetles prefer them. If so, more stumps should produce more beetle larvae. Here are the data:
Can we use a linear model to predict the number of beetle larvae from the number of stumps? If so, how accurate will our predictions be? Follow the four-step process.