Evaluate why intrinsic rate of increase alone is not necessarily an indication of how quickly a population will grow over a given period of time compared to that of another population or species

What will be an ideal response?


There are several factors involved in how quickly a population will increase in size. Differences in generation time have a big impact on how quickly a population can grow. A lower death rate compared to birth rate would have no advantage in the short term when a bacterium can go through many thousands of generations in less time than it takes a mammal to go through one. How a species deals with carrying capacity is another factor. K-selected species may be more stable, while an r-selected species may crash after overpopulation reduces resources and actually reduces carrying capacity. Age structure of a population is another factor. Regardless of its current rate of growth, a population with lots of younger individuals who are or soon will be entering reproductive age will have a faster rate of growth in the near future. Finally, immigration can change expected outcomes of population growth based on the intrinsic rate of growth. Even a population expected to decline may increase if immigration offsets the deficit.

Biology & Microbiology

You might also like to view...

Some algae utilize calcium carbonate to:

a. deter herbivores. b. aid in maintaining a proper pH balance. c. assist in photosynthesis. d. replace mucus. e. prevent from freezing.

Biology & Microbiology

In what way or ways does or do seedless

vascular plants differ from seed plants?

a. seedless vascular plants do not have a sporophyte stage; seed plants do b. the sporophyte of the seed plants gives rise to gametes; the sporophyte of seedless vascular plants gives rise to spores c. the gametophyte of the seedless vascular plants is free-living; the gametophyte of seed plants is not d. the sporophyte of seedless vascular plants is haploid; the sporophyte of the seed plants is diploid e. the gametophyte of the seed plants form spores; the gametophyte of the seedless vascular plants form gametes

Biology & Microbiology

Genetic diseases transmitted only by a mother to both sons and daughters result from ____________________ genes Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s)

Biology & Microbiology

A selecting agent 

A. causes mutations. B. selects the conditions an organism lives under. C. lowers the percentage of unfavorable genes in a population. D. None of the answers is correct.

Biology & Microbiology