Question

At the start of the recovery period, the waterbuck population contained only 140 individuals. The population had 0.67 births per year per individual and 0.06 deaths per year per individual. What is the maximum per capita growth rate (r) for this population

Answer 1

the intrinsic growth rate of the population = 0.67 - 0.06 = 0.61 or 61%

Explanation:

since populations increase exponentially, the same will happen here

in 5 years the population should be:

P₅ = P₀e°⁶¹ˣ⁵ = 140e°⁶¹ˣ⁵ = 2,956.15 ≈ 2,956

in 10 years the population will be:

P₁₀ = P₀e°⁶¹ˣ¹⁰ = 140e°⁶¹ˣ¹⁰ = 62,420.09 ≈ 62,420

when you are using exponential growth rates, we have to assume that r will always remain constant