Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Life Science to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
Directions: Use the information provided and your knowledge of Life Science to answer the following questions. Show all work where necessary.
All living things depend on resources - such as food, water, and shelter - to survive and reproduce. When these resources are plentiful, populations can grow. When they are limited, populations shrink.
In forest ecosystems, deer primarily feed on plants, leaves, and acorns. In years when oak trees produce many acorns (called mast years), deer thrive. The abundance of high-energy food allows more fawns to survive, and the overall population increases. However, oak trees do not produce heavy acorn crops every year. In low-acorn years, food becomes scarce. As deer compete for fewer resources, survival rates drop, and fewer offspring are born the following season.
This relationship illustrates a key ecological principle: resource availability controls population size. If food, water, or shelter becomes too limited, populations cannot continue to grow. Over time, populations fluctuate around the carrying capacity - the maximum number of individuals that the environment can support based on available resources and reproduction.
Year | Acorn Production (kg/ha) | Deer Population (per 1000 acres) | Fawn Survival (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
2016 | 150 | 45 | 62 |
2017 | 400 | 72 | 78 |
2018 | 350 | 70 | 76 |
2019 | 100 | 40 | 55 |
2020 | 220 | 52 | 60 |
2021 | 500 | 80 | 83 |
Provide the evidence, and explain your reasoning for the claim:
“The amount of acorn production affects deer populations.”
Answer in two parts: evidence and reasoning.
Refer to Table 1 in the Deer Population and Food Availability resource.
Describe the relationship between acorn production and deer survival.
In years with fewer acorns available, what is most likely to happen to the deer population?
How might deer behavior change when food becomes scarce?
Explain how changes in food availability show that some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all in a habitat.