Carrying Capacity Case Study

Case Study: Overshooting the Carrying Capacity 1. Compare the graph at the left with Figure 13-3. How are the two graphs similar? How are they different? The two graphs are similar in that they both show exponential growths of the population at a given time. However, they are different because the graph in the case study also shows a decline in the population. Also the graph in figure 13-3 is a hypothetical graph and the other shows a real situation. 2. Suppose predators had also been introduced to St. Paul Island. How might their presence have changed the outcome of the reindeer introduction? Explain your reasoning. Introducing predators could have caused the introduction of the reindeer to be completely unsuccessful, if the predators ate them all. The other outcome could have been that the spike in reindeer population wouldn’t have occurred, or been so dramatic.