Name______________________________________________________________Date________________Per_______
African Lions : Modeling Populations
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
What is a population?________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is ecology?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What happened to the lion population in 1962 to reduce their number to just 12?__________________________________________________________
1.
Which of the following is an example of Ecology? Circle one
a studying earthquakes
b. looking for planets in outer space
c. creating pharmaceutical drugs
d. studying how global warming affects whales
The Crater Lions
2. Which of the following interests you most? Circle one
a. what factors can influence how populations change over time
b. what is the difference between Exponential and Logistic Growth
c. how can we apply population models to real world data
d. what inferences can we make about human population growth
Population Changes over time
When do populations increase?_______________________________________________________________________________________
When do they decrease?______________________________________________________________________________________________
3.Which of the following would most likely to have been true from 1960-63 Circle one
a. more lions are immigrating than emigrating
b. more lions died every year than were born
4. What would have been true from 1952-56? Circle one
birth rate > death rate
c. no lions died
d. both a and b
death rate > birth rate
5. What do you predict will happen to the lion population after 1963? Explain below.
Draw your prediction on the graph to the below, starting in 1964.
Can you predict what the growth curve might look like in 12 hours?
What is Exponential Growth?___________________________________________________________________What is another term for Exponential
growth?____________________When does Exponential growth occur?____________________________________________________________________
In which hour are the bacteria growing the fastest? __________________
Describe Nogorongoro Crater_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Look at the lion population from 1963-75. Do you think this rate of growth will continue to increase? Why or why not?
Using the Zebra picture on the website- brainstorm a list of at least THREE limiting factors that might affect the lion population in the
crater.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What is Logistic Growth?________________________________________________________________________________________________
How is this represented on a graph?________________________________________________________________________
Write down the hour on the graph where you think the competition for space was low for the bacteria _________
Use the graph below to draw your prediction about the lion population from 1980-2012
What is a carrying capacity?__________________________________________________________________________________________________
When is intraspecific competition highest ?______________________________________________________________________________
What is the carrying capacity for the petri dish ?
__________________ individuals
What was the carrying capacity of lions BEFORE the disease outbreak? ______________________________
Compare your prediction to the real data? How do they compare?
List some density-dependent limiting factors ________________________________________________________________________________
Which of the following is a density -independent limiting factor that could cause fluctuations in the carrying capacity between 1995 and today? Circle
a.
b.
c.
d.
There is a drought for two years
African wild dogs move into the crater and compete with the lions for their Wilderbeest and zebra prey
a disease wipes out most of the zebra
half of the craters 3200square miles is fenced off for the development of a game reserve
Given the shape of the graph, do you think Earth’s population will reach carrying capacity? _____________________What might be some limiting factors
(list 3)________________________________________________________________________What do you think will happen if we do reach carrying
capacity? Give a thoughtful
response_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FINAL QUESTIONS
What factors can influence how populations change over time?_________________________________________________________________
What is the difference between Exponential and Logistic
growth?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How can we apply population models to real world data?_______________________________________________________________________________
What inference can we make about Human
population?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________