Answer:
Explanation:
To solve this problem, we can use the formula for exponential decay:
N(t) = N0 * (1 - r)^t
Where:
N0 = initial number of birds
N(t) = number of birds after time t
r = rate of decrease as a decimal (in this case, 0.03)
t = time in years
We want to find N0, the initial number of birds 7 years ago. Let's plug in the given values and solve for N0:
N(t) = 4,363
r = 0.03
t = 7
4,363 = N0 * (1 - 0.03)^7
4,363 = N0 * 0.744
N0 = 4,363 / 0.744
N0 = 5,861.98
Therefore, there were approximately 5,862 birds in the forest 7 years ago before the 3% yearly decrease.