Posted in Project Ideas on Nov 10th, 2011 Comments Off
The Allee effect (1931) describes the phenomena that for smaller populations, the reproduction and survival of individuals decrease, due to the lack of suitable mates. Alternatively, it can be thought of as a positive correlation between population density and the per capita growth rate. Determine at what population densities you expect to see the Allee [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Oct 4th, 2011 Comments Off
Many threatened species face extinction risks due to loss of habitat, disease, hunting pressure, etc., which ultimately result in dangerously low population sizes. Choose a threatened species with an extinction risk and create an equation/model that describes the change in their population size over time. At the current population growth rate, how long would it [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Sep 28th, 2011 Comments Off
In some populations there is no distinct breeding season, so reproduction takes place continually, which can make it problematic to keep track of all the new births. Create a model/equation that would enable you to take a census of the number of newborns over time of a continuously breeding population of your choice. Assume that [...]