Lab- Population Biology

Pre Lab Questions

1. Define habitat.

2. Define niche.

3. Define carrying capacity.

4. How many species can occupy a niche? Why is this the limit?

5. Explain the difference between interspecies and intraspecies competition. Provide an example of each: interspecies and intraspecies competition.

6. List the reasons a population reaches its carrying capacity.

7. Explain how do you determine when carrying capacity has been reached for a population?

8. Which organism reached their carrying capacity first?

9. How do the population numbers for these organisms compare when they are grown individually versus when they were grown together? Suggest an explanation for any differences.

10. Someone else repeated this experiment many, many times. They found in a few of the samples on Days 10-16 the number of P. caudatum individuals in the mixed culture began to gradually rise. Propose a hypothesis for this observation. You will not be able to look up this answer ... you must think about this lab to formulate your answer.