Article : Thelarge white-tailed deer population in a forest reserve in Ontarioha

Question

Article : Thelarge white-tailed deer population in a forest reserve in Ontariohas caused concern about overgrazing that might lead to theextinction of plant and animal species found there. To manage thisexcessive deer population, forest personnel decided to introduceits natural predator, the wolf. In the year 1990, 2000 deerlivedwithin the reserve, and 10 wolves were flown into thisreserve. Population densities of white-tailed deer and wolves weremonitored for a 10-year period.


QUESTIONS:-

1) Is wolf predation a limiting factor in this forest reserve?Explain your reasoning.
2) What other factors might limit the deer population?
3) Explain how the number of wolves in the reserve is influenced bythe size of the deer population.

Explanation / Answer

1) Wolf predation is a limiting factor in this reserve. A limiting factor is a factor that affects the population size;either with its presence or removal. Because the 10 wolveswere introduced and because they are predators of the deer, thedeer population will either grow slower or decrease (it depends onhow many deer are killed per wolf). The presence of thewolves changes the size and growth rate of the deer and is therebya limiting factor. 2) There are several other factors that may affect the deerpopulation. The size of the reserve is limiting because therecan only be a certain amount of deer per square mile. Waterand food are also limiting because in order to survive, the deerneed both and thee is a finite amount of both in the reserve. Hunting could be another limiting factor. If hunting isallowed in the reserve, a certain amount of deer will bekilled each season, limiting their numbers. 3) The number of wolves in the reserve is directly related tothe size of the deer population. As deer population rises, sodoes the wolf population. At some point, however, there willbe too many wolves and not enough deer so the wolves will over-huntthe deer and the deer population will crash, causing the wolfpopulation to subsequently crash due to lack of food. Thenthe deer will recover due to low predator numbers and ample habitatspace and the cycle will start again. The balance may reachequilibrium where the numbers of each are optimal and precipitousspikes and drops may be minimized.

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