Limiting Factors Carrying Capacity

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the difference between carrying capacity and ecological footprint?

• Carrying capacity is about the number of organisms an environment can support, while ecological footprint is about the resources needed to support those organisms.

• Carrying capacity refers to the amount of water available, while ecological footprint refers to the number of predators.

• Carrying capacity is only relevant to plants, while ecological footprint is only relevant to animals.

• Carrying capacity and ecological footprint mean the same thing.

Open Ended

How does the concept of carrying capacity influence the size and sustainability of populations in an ecosystem?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best defines carrying capacity?

• The number of people, other living organisms, or crops that a region can support without environmental degradation.

• The maximum number of species in an ecosystem.

• The amount of food available in an ecosystem.

• The number of predators in an ecosystem.

Open Ended

Explain how the balance of relationships such as predator vs. prey, photosynthesis, and the water cycle contribute to the stability of an ecosystem.

Multiple Select

Which of the following are factors that can affect overall population size?

• Number of births

• Number of deaths

• Number of members entering or leaving the population

• Amount of sunlight

Open Ended

What are some examples of factors that limit the size of a student population in a classroom?

Open Ended

What is carrying capacity and what are 3 factors that can affect overall population size?

Fill in the Blank

Anything that limits or decreases the size of a population is called a ___ factor.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an abiotic factor that may limit the size of a population?

• Sunlight

• Competition

• Predation

• Parasitism

Open Ended

Explain how both abiotic and biotic factors can limit the size of a population. Use examples from the slides to support your answer.

Multiple Select

Which of the following are examples of indirect competition in an ecosystem?

• Finches with different beak shapes competing for food

• A cheetah hunting a gazelle

• Two bears fighting over territory

• Plants competing for sunlight

Fill in the Blank

Direct competition in an ecosystem usually involves organisms that ___ each other.

Open Ended

How does the predator-prey relationship create cyclical changes in population sizes over time?

Multiple Choice

Are predator-prey relationships examples of direct or indirect competition?

• Direct competition

• Indirect competition

Open Ended

Why might it be good to have predators in an ecosystem?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes carrying capacity in an ecosystem?

• The maximum number of organisms the ecosystem can support

• The number of predators in an ecosystem

• The amount of food available in an ecosystem

• The number of births in a population

Multiple Choice

What usually happens to a new, small population as it grows over time?

• It increases until carrying capacity is reached and then stabilizes

• It decreases steadily

• It remains the same size

• It increases without limit

Open Ended

Name two factors that can cause the carrying capacity of an environment to change.

Fill in the Blank

From 1800 to today, the human population has grown from about 1 billion to more than ___ billion.

Multiple Select

Which of the following are ways populations can change?

• Natality

• Mortality

• Immigration

• All of the above

Multiple Choice

Which of the following factors can lead to exponential population growth?

• High birth rates under ideal conditions

• High death rates due to disease

• Increased emigration

• Low immigration

Open Ended

How do mortality and natality together influence the growth of a population?

Multiple Select

Which of the following statements about survivorship curves is/are correct?

• Type I curves show high survival in early and middle life, followed by a rapid decline in later life.

• Type II curves show a constant death rate over the organism's life span.

• Type III curves show high mortality early in life, with few individuals surviving to old age.

• Type I curves show high mortality early in life.

Fill in the Blank

A population's size can be temporarily affected by seasonal movement into and out of an area, a process known as ___.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true about immigration and emigration?

• Immigration increases population growth, while emigration decreases it.

• Both immigration and emigration increase population growth.

• Both immigration and emigration decrease population growth.

• Immigration decreases population growth, while emigration increases it.

Open Ended

Explain how immigration and emigration can affect the population size of a species.

Open Ended

What is one question you still have about population ecology or carrying capacity after today's lesson?

Open Ended

How are populations limited by the carrying capacity of the environment?