Population Growth

Question 1

What is the formula for exponential population growth?

Answer 1

Change in number/ Change in time = rN

• r = the per head maximum growth rate
• N = the number of individuals in the population

Question 2

What does the graph of a J-curve represent?

Answer 2

Exponential growth

- Unsustainable as it requires unlimited food supply, etc

Question 3

What is the logistic equation of population growth?

Answer 3

The change in number/change in time = rN ((K-N)/K))

K = carrying capacity

Question 4

What graph represents logistic growth?

Answer 4

S-curve

Question 5

What does the inflection point on an S-curved graph represent?

Answer 5

Half the carrying capacity

Question 6

Biotic Potential

Answer 6

• Maximum rate of population increase under ideal conditions
• Limited by environmental resistance

Question 7

Carrying Capacity

Answer 7

The number of animals an area can support over a period of time without damage to that habitat

Question 8

MSY

Answer 8

Maximum sustainable yield

• Removal of the maximum amount of biomass without negatively impacting future harvests
• Common in fisheries

Question 9

OSY

Answer 9

Optimum sustainable yield

• Takes into account the ecological and socio-economic impacts of harvest
• More commonly practiced today

Question 10

What are the three age classes of brook trout and how does their egg production increase with age?

Answer 10

Age class I: 354 eggs/female (not all class I are sexually mature)
Age class II: 617 eggs/female
Age class III: 906 eggs/female

Question 11

Life Tables

Answer 11

Used to describe how mortality affects different age groups in a population

Question 12

What research lessons were learned between moose and wolf populations on Isle Royale?

Answer 12

• Predator-prey systems are not neatly controlled
• Predator-prey populations do not fluctuate in response to one or two simple variables, but rather many different variables