Imagine that you are managing a large game ranch. You know from historical accounts that a species of deer used to live there, but they have been extirpated. You decide to reintroduce them. After doing some research to determine what might be an appropriately sized founding population, you do so. You then watch the population increase for several generations, and graph the number of individuals (vertical axis)against the number of generations (horizontal axis). The graph will likely appear as
A) a diagonal line, getting higher with each generation.
B) an "S," increasing with each generation.
C) an upside-down "U."
D) a "J," increasing with each generation.
E) an "S" that ends with a vertical line.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The most likely graph for a reintroduced population is a "J-shaped" curve, where the number of individuals increases rapidly for the first several generations before leveling off due to limiting factors such as resource availability and competition. This is because the founding population typically experiences a period of rapid growth as it fills the available habitat and reproduces, but this is not sustainable in the long-term. The other options, such as a diagonal line or upside-down "U," would not accurately reflect the dynamics of a reintroduced population.

Imagine That You Are Managing a Large Game Ranch