Analysis: 1. What is a density-dependent limiting factor? 2. When do density-dependent factors operate most strongly? 3. List fo
ur density-dependent limiting factors? a. b. c. d. 4. Describe what happened to the deer and wolf populations between 1971 and 1980. 5. What happened to the deer population when the number of wolves was low? 6. What do you think would have happened to the deer on the island had wolves NOT been introduced? Explain your answer. 7. What is the relationship between the deer and the wolves on the island? 8. Is the number of deer on the island a density-dependent or density-independent limiting factor for the wolf? Explain your answer.
Answer: 1. Any factor limiting the size of a population whose effect is not dependent on the number of individuals in the population.2. only when the population density reaches a certain level. These factors operate most strongly when a population is large and dense. They do not affect small, scattered populations as greatly. 3,There are many types of density dependent limiting factors such as; availability of food, predation, disease, and migration. However the main factor is the availability of food. 4.The deer and wolf populations both increased until they reached a maximum and then began to decrease until they reached a minimum. Once they reached a minimum, they began to increase at a smaller rate until they leveled off and maintained their population. The rising and falling of the populations happened at different times, but was first seen in the deer population.5.Had the wolves not been introduced to the island, there is a good change that the deer population would have ultimately died out because there would not have been enough food to support all of the deer present on the island. 6.the deer population would have ultimately died out because there would not have been enough food to support all of the deer present on the island. 7. The relationship between wolves and the deer was not pleasant at all,because the deer usually fall prey to the Wolves in the Forest.
Explanation: 8.The number of deer on the island is a density-dependent limiting factor for the wolves since more wolves need more deer to survive.
