Transcript Oh, Deer!

Oh, Deer!
A Simulation of the Impact of Changes
in the Environment on Population Size
By Dr. Martin
1(a) If all the students in habitat decide to be
shelter, I can infer that the climate conditions that
year were ___________________.
/very cold, snowy, or stormy based on that
statement that if there is insufficient shelter the
deer would die of exposure/
1(b) If no student in habitat decide to be shelter, I
can infer that the climate conditions that year
were ___________________.
/warm, sunny, very mild since shelter is not really
needed/
2(a) Animals need ____________ to survive.
/food, water, shelter and space in a suitable arrangement/
2(b) Carrying capacity is the _______________ and the
number of animals that a habitat can support. If these are
limited, then the populations ___________,
/balance between availability of food, water, shelter and
space,/
/will not reproduce/
2(c) Limiting factors that affect the survival of animals can
be density-dependent (_________) or density-independent
(_________).
/(disease and predator/prey) (weather conditions, accidents,
pollution, and habitat destruction/degradation)/
2(d) Factors that limit carrying capacity affect the
health, numbers, and distribution of animals leads to
___________________.
/threatening, endangering, and eliminating whole
species of animals. Populations increase in size until
some limiting factors are imposed. Poor habitat
results in weakened individuals that will succumb to
disease, but not instant death/
2(e) Limiting factors affect competition within a
species by __________.
/increasing the likelihood of competition for the
available resources/
2(f) Good habitat is important for animals because
____________________.
/habitat components are the most fundamental and the
most critical of limiting factors. They change in
response to stimulating and limiting factors. Poor
habitat results in a weakened individual that easily
succumbs to disease./
2(g) Wildlife populations are not static, and they tend to
fluctuate as part of an overall “balance” of nature
because they are dependent upon __. Also, since
everything is interrelated, any change will interrupt __.
/food, water, shelter and space which are limited and
create competition/ /dynamic equilibrium/
2(h) Nature is never really in “balance” because __.
/it continuously fluctuates in response to a variety
of stimulating and limiting factors and causes
competition/
2(i) This simulation is realistic because
___________. It is not realistic because ________.
/it shows the relationship between environmental
factors and population size/
/dead organisms do become recycled, just not
immediately and all habitat components are
required to survive, not just one/
3. Looking at the data table and the graph of the
empirical data, the claim that “changes to physical
or biological components of an ecosystem affect
wildlife populations” is supported because
__________________.
/each generation has deer that die because they do
not get their share of the limiting factors, and deer
that are born because their parent survives by
getting enough of the necessary resources. You can
see that the population graph moves up and down
showing that as the components change, the
population changes/
4. Disruptions to any physical or biological
component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all
its populations can be illustrated by __________.
/when water or food is limited, such as in a drought,
deer will get weak and die from disease/
For example, quail may start out with a population
of 100 pairs in early spring and grow to more than
1,200 birds by late spring. Then as the limiting
factors come into play, they may decline back to
about 100 pairs by winter.
“The completeness or integrity of an
ecosystem’s biodiversity is often a measure
of its health”
“The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity,
if commonly referred to as biodiversity”. (Shah, A.
2014)
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where
each species has an important role to play (niche).
(Shah, A. 2014)
Genetic diversity helps to prevent the chances of
extinction since species need a variety of genes to
ensure successful survival. (Shah, A. 2014)
As humans destroy, reduce and isolate habitats, the
chances for interaction from species with a large
gene pool decreases. (Shah, A. 2014)
“While there might be “survival of the fittest” within
a given species, each species depends on the services
provided by other species to ensure survival.” (Shah,
A. 2014)