Photo by Brocken Inaglory

Photo by Tomas Castelazo Photo by Edwin Olson Photo by B. Navez

Animals and plants in the desert compete over water that is scarce.

Rabbit are herbivores that eat plants. They live in burrows they dig in the ground. They are preyed on by several carnivores, and they reproduces quickly which reduces competition among predators.

Native Introduced

24 European rabbits were released into Australia. The population now numbers in the tens of millions.

Green water in the Potomac River due to increased levels of cyanobacteria. Photo by Sasha Trubetskoy

a. Density-dependent factors i. Disease ii. Competition iii. Predators iv. Parasites v. Food vi. Crowding 1. The greater the population, the greater effect these factors have. b. Density-independent factors i. Volcanic eruptions ii. Temperature iii. Storms iv. Floods v. Drought vi. Chemical pesticides vii. Major habitat disruption (as in the New Orleans flooding) 1. Most are abiotic factors Population Carrying Capacity Limiting factors are categorized into two types:

Two modes of population growth Population Carrying Capacity a. In general, no population exhibits the exponential growth for long.

11. Reproductive Strategies r-strategy (J curve) r-strategy (J curve) PAP ONLY Population Carrying Capacity K-strategy (S curve)