Question

A population of 600 that experiences 65 births and 5 deaths during a one year period. If the population maintains the current growth pattern, a plot of its growth would resemble:
(A) exponential growth
(B) fluctuating growth
(C) K-selected growth
(D) logistic growth

Answer 1

Hint: A population is a subgroup of individuals belonging to a single species that coexists sexually and occupies a specific geographic area. There are various factors which influences population growth pattern such as number of births, number of deaths, emigration, immigration. The size of a population is the total number of people in it.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
For certain species, it is simple to determine the geographic limits of a population; for other species, it might be more challenging. The study of population dynamics in space and time is known as population ecology. Populations can be classified according to their size, density, or geographic reach.

It is characterised as exponential population expansion when the number of individual members of a population increases too quickly, eventually exceeding the carrying capacity, or maximum number of individuals, that a particular ecosystem can sustain. Bacteria are one of the best illustrations of exponential growth. Prokaryotic fission is a method of bacterial reproduction that takes around an hour. Exponential growth would be visible if 100 bacteria were introduced to a situation and the population size was noted every hour. The population is increasing exponentially if the reproductive rate is larger than zero (r>0).

So, option (A) is correct.

Note: Don’t get confused between exponential growth and logistic growth, these are two different type of growth patterns. In logistic growth, a population's rate of per capita growth declines as it approaches the carrying capacity, a limit imposed by the environment's limited resources ( K). A J-shaped curve is produced by exponential growth, whereas an S-shaped curve is produced by logistic growth.