Question:
Which of the following is an incorrect statement about the regulation of populations?
Answer:
b. Density-independent factors have an increasingly greater effect as a population's density increases.
Explanation:
A population can be defined as the total number of living organisms living together in a particular place and sharing certain characteristics in common.
Generally, these populations may be divided into a fraction of the population (subpopulation) based on certain factors and reasons.
Population change equation states that the change in the size of a population over a specific period of time is equal to the sum of the number of births and the number of immigrants that joined.
Mathematically, the population change equation is given by the formula;
Population Change = (Natality - Mortality) + (Immigration - Emigration)
Population regulation can be defined as a biological process that balances limiting factors affecting the growth of a population based on density. The factors that regulate the growth of a population are divided into two (2) main categories and these includes;
I. Density-independent factors.
II. Density-dependent factors.
Density-dependent are regulating factors such as predation, diseases, and competition that affect the size of the population of living organisms through decreasing or increasing mortality and birth rate.
Furthermore, density-independent factors do not have an increasingly greater effect as a population's density increases. Thus, its effect are reduced as a population's density increases in size.
