All environments have carrying capacities.Ī.
Analyze: The carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can support. The rabbits reproduce during the parts of the year when resources, such as food, are plentiful, but when resources are harder to find, such as during the winter, many of the rabbits die.ģ. The rabbit population increased in size at the beginning of the year (spring), and then decreased in size towards the end of the year (winter). What pattern did you see repeated every year? For the next six years, the rabbit population stayed approximately the same size.ī. For the first four years, the rabbit population increased in size. Describe how the rabbit population changed over the course of 10 years.
(Note: You can use the zoom controls on the right to see the whole graph.)Ī. Click Play, and allow the simulation to run for at least 10 years. What do you think are some of the limiting factors for the rabbit population? Examples of limiting factors include competition, disease, living space, natural disasters, predation, and unusual weather.Ģ. Think about it: A limiting factor is any factor that controls the growth of a population. Question: What determines how large a population can grow?ġ. In which season did the rabbit population increase the least? Winter In which season did the rabbit population increase the most? Springī. Click Play (), and allow the simulation to run for one year.Ī. What is the approximate size of the initial rabbit population? 40 rabbitsĢ. In the Rabbit Population by Season Gizmo™, you will see how different factors influence how a rabbit population grows and changes.ġ. The size of a population is determined by many factors. Several environmental factors, for example limited food resources, keep a rabbit population from growing too large.Ī population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area. So, why aren’t we overrun with rabbits? What keeps the rabbit population in check? If that happened, in only eight years the mass of rabbits would exceed the mass of Earth! Suppose all of her offspring survived and reproduced, all of their offspring survived and reproduced, and so on. A female rabbit can give birth to over 40 baby rabbits a year. Pet rabbits need food, fresh water, a clean living space, and shelter from the elements in order to stay alive and healthy.Ģ.
What would the rabbit need to stay alive and healthy? Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)ġ. Vocabulary: carrying capacity, density-dependent limiting factor, density-independent limiting factor, limiting factor, population, population density
0 kommentar(er)
