Final answer:
Population density is calculated by dividing the number of individuals by the area or volume they occupy. For the given examples, the fish population density is 0.14 fish per gallon, and the grass density is 725 blades per square meter. A comparison reveals that plants have a greater density when compared to insects in the provided scenario.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate population density, you divide the number of individual organisms by the area or volume they inhabit. It's a measure of how crowded or dispersed a population is within a given area. For instance, the density of fish and grass can be calculated using the given figures.
We have 84 fish in 600 gallons of water. To find population density, we divide the number of fish by the volume of water they inhabit:
Density = Number of fish / Volume of water
Density of fish = 84 fish / 600 gallons = 0.14 fish per gallon.
Similarly, for 2900 blades of grass in a 2x2 meters section:
First, we calculate the area: Area = Length x Width
Area of the field section = 2 meters x 2 meters = 4 square meters.
Now, we divide the number of blades of grass by the area of the field to find their density
Density of grass = 2900 blades / 4 square meters = 725 blades per square meter.
Looking at an example provided, a population of 820 insects in a 1.2-acre area compared to 560 flowering plants in a 0.2-acre area:
To compare these densities, we calculate each population's density separately and then compare.
Density of insects = 820 insects / 1.2 acres
Density of plants = 560 plants / 0.2 acres
The plants have a greater density because there is a larger number of plants in a smaller area, compared to the insects.
A random pattern of distribution suggests that a species is spreading out unpredictably over an area, whereas a uniform pattern indicates that individuals are spaced out more evenly, possibly due to territorial behaviours or resource distribution.