ADI Predator-Prey Population Size Relationship Lab Report
In nature, there are many relationships between organisms. One of these is a predator-prey population size relationship, and more specifically for this investigation, predation. In this relationship, an organism (or organisms) depend(s) on others for food. There is a predator, the hunter, and the prey, the hunted. In this experiment, the predators were the wolves, and the prey were the sheep (the grass could also be considered prey, and the sheep could be considered a predator). This causes an increase in the predator population, and a decrease in the prey population, furthermore linking the two populations to one another. The sheep eat the grass, and the wolves eat the sheep. The populations …show more content…
It is only when one of the populations reach zero -- more commonly known as extinction -- that the relationship is unstable. Almost always, there must be more prey than predators in order for the relationship to remain stable. As well, many factors -- either biotic (living) or abiotic (nonliving) -- can affect this relationship. These factors include available food, species variety available to the predator, and reproduction rate. Henceforth, the guiding question was “Which factors affect the stability of a predator-prey population size relationship?” The background information and guiding question for this investigation correspond with each other because they both concern how predators and prey affect each other's populations. The goal of this investigation was to find out which factors affected this relationship …show more content…
The first graph (graph two) is the control graph, and exemplifies a stable and otherwise average relationship between these three organisms. Graph five shows what happened when the wolf population was increased to 500, and seven shows what happened when the sheep gain from food rate was changed to 10. Both caused the wolf population to go to zero, consequently causing the relationship to become
In nature, there are many relationships between organisms. One of these is a predator-prey population size relationship, and more specifically for this investigation, predation. In this relationship, an organism (or organisms) depend(s) on others for food. There is a predator, the hunter, and the prey, the hunted. In this experiment, the predators were the wolves, and the prey were the sheep (the grass could also be considered prey, and the sheep could be considered a predator). This causes an increase in the predator population, and a decrease in the prey population, furthermore linking the two populations to one another. The sheep eat the grass, and the wolves eat the sheep. The populations …show more content…
It is only when one of the populations reach zero -- more commonly known as extinction -- that the relationship is unstable. Almost always, there must be more prey than predators in order for the relationship to remain stable. As well, many factors -- either biotic (living) or abiotic (nonliving) -- can affect this relationship. These factors include available food, species variety available to the predator, and reproduction rate. Henceforth, the guiding question was “Which factors affect the stability of a predator-prey population size relationship?” The background information and guiding question for this investigation correspond with each other because they both concern how predators and prey affect each other's populations. The goal of this investigation was to find out which factors affected this relationship …show more content…
The first graph (graph two) is the control graph, and exemplifies a stable and otherwise average relationship between these three organisms. Graph five shows what happened when the wolf population was increased to 500, and seven shows what happened when the sheep gain from food rate was changed to 10. Both caused the wolf population to go to zero, consequently causing the relationship to become