Alaska contains over 127 million acres of untouched forest land. It is the largest state in the United States,
yet with a population of nearly 700,000 people, it has the same total population as Austin, Texas. New
Jersey is one of the smallest states and home to a population of nearly 9 million, but almost 1.8 million of
its 4.4 million total land acres are untouched natural woodland. What are the reasons for the ways populations
organize themselves, and what effect does this organization have on the environment?
Question 1
1.
Question 2
2.
Question 3
3.
Question 4
4.
Question 5
5.
Explain why organisms would have this arrangement.
Question 6
6.
Fill in the table below by counting the number of individuals in each habitat and
then calculate the area available per individual.
Question 7
7.
Question 8
8.
Question 9
9.
Compare and contrast the terms population density and population distribution.
Question 10
10.
Question 11
11.
Question 12
12.
Question 13
13.
Question 14
14.
Question 15
15.
Question 16
16.
Question 17
17.
Question 18
18.
Question 19
19.
Describe how the food supply would be affected by the population density.
Question 20
20.
Describe how the levels or spread of disease would be affected by population density.
Question 21
21.
Question 22
22.
Question 23
23.
Question 24
24.
Density-independent factors and density-dependent factors may be interrelated. For example, a lack of rainfall that causes a drought will impact the food supply in a habitat.
Propose another pairing of a density-independent factor and density-dependent factor that might occur.
What do the dots in the diagrams represent?
Individual organisms
Habitat
Area
What do the boxes in the diagrams represent?
Area
Habitat
Individual organisms
Describe the arrangements of the dots in habitat 3
Random
Uniform
Clumped
Describe the arrangements of the dots in habitat 4
Uniform
Random
Clumped
Which habitat shows a high population density?
1
2
3
4
5
Which habitat shows a low population density?
1
2
3
4
5
Assuming the population size stays constant, propose at two factors that might cause a population to shift from a low density habitat to a high density habitat?
(Select 2 correct answers)
Forest fire
Flood
Hurricane
Lack of resources
Change in environment
Animals such as lions or wolves often show clumped distribution. Give a reason why this would be advantageous for these animals.
(Select 3 correct answers)
Disease prevention
Group Hunting
They are territorial
Social groups and mating
Which factors are dependent on the population density?
(Select 5 correct answers)
Rainfall
Competition
Flood
Acidity
Predation
Disease
Food supply
Parasitism
Drought
Northern pike (it’s a fish) feed on another fish, the yellow perch. An increase in the yellow perch population causes an increase in the northern pike population.
Density dependent
Density independent
The BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico has harmed many aquatic organisms that live in the gulf region.
Density independent
Density dependent
A new strain of influenza (the flu) breaks out in Houston
Density dependent
Density independent
A population of rabbits and a population of deer are feeding off the same plants in the same habitat
Density dependent
Density independent
Hurricane Katrina forced thousands of people to leave New Orleans
Density dependent
Density independent
Due to humans putting increasing amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and cutting down trees that would normally take up some of those gases, the Earth slowly gets warmer and changes climates around the globe. This effects the polar bear population.
Density dependent
Density independent
What do all the density-independent factors have in common?
Population factors
Resource factors
Environmental factors
Density-dependent factors are
Directly affected by the density of individuals in a given area
Unaffected by the number of individuals in a given area
Density-independent factors are
Unaffected by the number of individuals in a given area
Directly affected by the density of individuals in a given area
