The theoretical basis for my experiment is the influence human disturbance has on communication between red squirrels. My hypothesis for my experiment is that the amount of human activity influences communication between red squirrel individuals. An ecological process that may contribute to my hypothesis is habituation. Habituation is when an animal like the red squirrel becomes desensitized to the presence of a stimulus (humans) by repeated exposure to the stimulus. Another ecological process my hypothesis may touch on is habitat fragmentation. The disturbance caused by humans could result in the squirrels dividing their habitat into smaller and more isolated habitats. A third ecological process that may contribute to my hypothesis is Predation. Squirrels may consider humans to be predators which may result in squirrels producing alarm calls in the presence of humans. Therefore, the ideas underpinning my research would be habituation, habitat fragmentation, and predation. Three keywords that describe my research project are Human Disturbance, Red Squirrel, and Habituation.
Sounds like a good start for topics to dig into for your intro / discussion