Populations Assignment #1

What are the four characteristics that are used to describe a population?

Four characteristics to describe populations are geographic range, density and distribution, growth rate, and age structure.

Refer to Figure 5-4 on page 133 in your book. A.) How does the shape of the line representing the growth of the bacterial population compare to the shape of the line representing the growth of the elephant population? B.) How do the graphs differ? C.) Why are different time increments used in the two graphs?

A.) The lines in both graphs are similar in shape and rise over the hours/years. B.) The graphs differ by the bacteria growing in hours and the elephants growing in years C.) There are different time increments because for elephants it takes longer to reproduce than bacteria.

Refer to Figure 5-5 on page 134 of your book. A.) During which phase does the population grow most rapidly? B.) During which phase does the population size stabilize? C.) What is the carrying capacity of a population?

A.) The phase that population grows most rapidly is phase 1. B.) The phase that population stabilizes is phase 3. C.) The carrying capacity is the max number that can live in an area.

Refer to the Figure 5-3 on page 132 of your book A.) What two factors add individuals to the fish population? B.) What two factors remove individuals from the fish population? C.) If the fish population stays the same size for a one-year period, what can you assume about the number of individuals removed from the population during that time?

A.) The two factors that add to the population is birth and immigration. B.) The two ways that remove from the population is death and Emigration C.) If the population stays the same the birth rate and immigration rates are continuously replacing the death and emigration rates

What is an example of a limiting factor that humans use to control the carrying capacity of an environment for a particular type of organism? Explain your answer?

An example of a limiting factor in humans is manipulating the carrying capacity.

Can exponential growth occur in a population of organisms that hake a long time to reproduce? Why or Why Not?

No, exponetial growth cannot occur because it moves rapidly in a short amount of time.

Which population characteristic most directly determines if a population increases or decreases in size over time?

The characteristic that determines if a population increases or decreases is growth rate.

What would happen to a population's density if the population size stayed the same while its geographic range decreased?

The population's density would gradually come to the same location and the population density would increase in that area.

Describe the conditions in which exponential growth occurs.

When exponential growth occurs the population is short-lived/temporary.

When real-world populations of plants and animals are analyzed, why do they most often have the logistic growth curve?

When they are examined they have a logistic growth because they stay steady

When you travel through eastern Canada and US, you notice grey squirrels everywhere. What can you infer about the squirrel's geographic range?

You can infer about grey squirrel's geographic range is that it expands over many types of land and that it is enormous in size.