Population Dynamics




BIO326 : Population : Population Dynamics : Population Dynamics

Population Dynamics: Review Questions

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1. What data from ecology shows that storing food in cool, dry conditions is preferable than storing food in warmer, moister conditions? Explain.

2. Both density-dependent and density-independent factors cause mortality in natural populations.

a) Why is it that density-independent factors can cause greater mortality than caused by density-dependent factors, but density-independent factors cannot "regulate" a population?

b) Is there any evidence that a human population, e.g., the Finnish population, is "regulated" in this ecological sense? Explain.

3. When Nicholson provided adult blowflies all the food they could eat, the population oscillated greatly and went extinct intermittantly. When he reduced the food to adults, oscillations declined in amplitude and average population density increased. What explains this paradoxical behavior, i.e., less food results in greater population density and stability?

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