This lesson, which is based around a recently published paper in the Journal of Ecological Applications, introduces students to both parametric and non-parametric approaches to statistical analysis using R. Key concepts covered include Analysis of Variance and Kruskal-Wallis tests, Shapiro-Wilk and Levene's testing, least significant difference post-hoc testing, and the Shannon Diversity Index. In addition to providing a detailed guide to these quantitative approaches, the lesson includes environmental background context and a section on the art of data wrangling to prepare raw data for analysis. The entire lesson is R-based, meaning that all parts of the lesson are intended to be viewed in RStudio, or some other Integrated Development Environment.