Question

Conservationists establish that the carrying capacity of a population of deer in an extensive geographical area is 945. The current population of deer is 1,100. What is likely to happen to the population of deer?

A.The growth pattern will change from logistic to exponential.
B.The minimal viable population for the deer will increase.
C.Deer from other populations will immigrate to find mates to reproduce successfully.
D.The population will remain healthy, and its numbers will increase.
The population size will drop until the numbers reach the carrying capacity.

Answer 1

Answer: E. The population size will drop until the numbers reach the carrying capacity.

A carrying capacity of the ecosystem is the number of individuals in the population of species a ecosystem can sustain on the basis of availability of resources (food, shelter). Conservationists established that the carrying capacity of a population of deer in an extensive geographical area is 945 which increased to 1,100. This sudden increase in the population of deer, will result in depletion of resources, hence, carrying capacity of the ecosystem cannot sustain increased members of the population. Therefore, the population size will drop until the numbers reach the carrying capacity.

Answer 2

The correct option is E.
The carrying capacity of a biological specie in an ecosystem refers to the maximum population size of the specie that the environment can sustain indefinitely given all the resources that are available in the environment. When the number of living organism in an ecosystem is above the carrying capacity, the number of death among the specie will increase until the carrying capacity is reached.