Question

Your friend comes to you with a problem. It seems his shrimp boats aren't catching nearly as much shrimp as they used to. He can't understand why because he used to catch all the shrimp he could handle. Each year he added a new boat, and for a long time each boat caught tons of shrimp. As he added more boats, there came a time when each boat caught somewhat fewer shrimp, and now, each boat is catching a lot less shrimp. Which of the following topics might help your friend understand the source of his problem?
A) density-dependent population regulation and intrinsic characteristics of population growth
B) exponential growth curves and unlimited environmental resources
C) density-independent population regulation and chance occurrence
D) pollution effects of a natural environment and learned shrimp behavior
E) a K-selected population switching to an r-selected population

Answer 1

The correct answer is A. Density-dependent population regulation an intrinsic characteristic of population growth.

Explanation

Density-dependent population regulation includes factors such as diseases, predation, or competence that limit the growth of a population depending on the size of it (density). In the case presented, predation is the factor that affects the shrimp population because more boats and more shrimp imply more predation from humans. Additionally, this excessive predation limits the growth of the shrimp population and causes the depletion of shrimp over time. According to the above, the correct answer is A. Density-dependent population regulation an intrinsic characteristic of population growth.