Introduction This pratical is about the population size and the growth of the population.

Population size is the number of individuals that represent the populations gene pool. This practical consist two types of growth, exponential growth and logistic growth (sigmoidal growth). From this practical, we can understand the populations trend that change through in a year.

Table for task 1 Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 Table for task 2 Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 Koala Population A 20 27 55 100 180 320 Koala Population B 20 25 40 55 85 130 Rhinoceros Population A 30 65 115 235 465 980 Rhinceros population B 20 50 85 265 315 635

Table for task 3 Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Zebra Population A 20 80 220 400 500 530 560 Zebra Population B 20 50 100 210 350 450 510

8 9 10 11 Table for task 4 Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

570 580 590 600

530 560 570 600

Zebra Population A 20 85 160 270 435 450 450 450 440 460 450

Zebra Population B 20 50 110 155 257 257 227 200 160 150 150

1. What is the difference between exponential and and logistic (sigmoidal) growth ? Exponential growth can be defined as quantity increase by a fixed percentage in a given interval( for example 0.1, 1.0, 10 percent over three successive years ). So an increase in population size depends on how many reproductive individuals form the reproductive base in successive increments of time. The larger the reproductive base, the greater will be expansion in population size during specified interval. The logistics is a different kind of behavior which is more realistic to population not in ideal conditions: the rate of growth is proportional to the amount but there is also a damping factor due to competition and limited resources. This model works that at first the rate of growth getting faster then it slows down since there are too many individual competing on limited space. When this population reaches its equilibrium state, the rate of growth is zero and if there will be no interruptions, the size of the population will stay constant.

There are a few differences for both growths. First, exponential growth is rapid in the beginning and slows down at the end. Sigmoid growth is slow at the beginning and the end. Then, exponential growth only happens when there is no limit in the areas. Logistic growt happens when there is carrying capacity.

2. How do populations gain and lose individuals? Populations are dynamic units of nature, it means that population can increase or decrease their numbers every minutes, season, or year. Population can gain the individuals through two factors births and immigration. Births mean the interbreeding of species in a group. The second factor is immigration. Immigtarion is the arrival of new residents from other populations of the species. There are also two factors that can decrease the populations. They are deaths and emigration. Deaths maybe caused by nature, disease, or threat from human. Emigration means that individuals permanently moving out of the population.

3. What are the characteristics of a population which has a high intrinsic rate of increase? Some of the characteristics of a population which has a high intrinsic rate include, early maturation, numerous and smaller young, shorter life spans,need

less parental care of the baby, little competition for resources, have high resistance to disease, and easy to adapt in changing environment. For example, mosquitoes and flies.

4. What are the environmental factors which act to (1) increase population growth and (2) decrease population growth ? There are a few environmental factors that can increase and decrease population growth. These factors can be divided to two categories, biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors are food, predator, competitor, parasites, and shelter. Both the quantity and the quality of food are important. Snails, for example, cannot reproduce successfully in an environment low in calcium, no matter how much food there is, because they need this mineral for shell growth. The second one is predator. As a prey population becomes larger, it becomes easier for predators to find prey. If the number of predators suddenly falls, the prey species might increase in number extremely quickly. Competitors mean other organisms may require the same resources from the environment, and so this will reduce growth of a population. For example all plants compete for light. Competition for territory and for mates can drastically reduce the growth of individual organisms.

Parasites also take a part in population growth. These may cause disease, and slow down the growth and reproductive rate of organisms within a population. Abiotic factors that affecting population growth includes temperature, oxygen availability, light availability and toxins or pollutants. Higher temperatures will speed up enzyme-catalyzed reactions and increase growth. Oxygen availability will affects the rate of energy production by respiration. Besides that, species need oxygen to breath. Without oxygen, species will die. Light availability will affect the population growth. For example, light is vital for photosynthesis to happen. Light may also control breeding cycles in animals and plants. The last one is toxin or pollutants. Tissue growth can be reduced by the presence of, for example, sulphur dioxide, and reproductive success may be affected by pollutants such as estrogen like substances.

5. What happens if the population size exceeds the carrying capacity? Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of individuals of a population that a given environment can sustain indefinitely. If the population overshoot the carrying capacity, the population will decrease. Look for this explaination. As the population increases in size, more and more individuals must share living quarters, nutrients and other resources. Consequently, the share available will be dimished or reduced. Then, fewer individuals may be born and more may die by starvation or nutrient deficiencies. Now, the populationns rate of growth will decrease until births are balanced or outnumbered by deaths .

6. Why is a random change in K from year to year a problem for management of commercially exploited wild populations? Random changes in K mean that the carrying capacity will vary from year to year. This wil bring a lot of problem to the management. The population will be hardly to be estimated. From that, it will be hard to supply food and water to the population. If K is high, population will need lot of food, but if the K is low, population only needs a few of food. In addition, wild populations can only be exploited commercially when the numbers of the population is high. If the number is low, it cant be exploited because maybe the species will be endangered.

7. Explain what you will do if there is a good season and deer populations for the next season are predicted to overshoot carrying by 20 % ? If the deer will overshoot carrying capacity, I will make sure that in the next season the food and water supply is enough for all the deers population. Besides that, I will transfer half of the deer to other places in other to avoid the shortage of food supply. Before the next year, I will slow the breeding rates by separate the male and female species. The slow breeding rates will ensure that the species cant produce fastly. So, the population will increase slowly.

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