Question

Explain how rmax would be expected to differ for an elephant and a flea, and how that changes the time scale over which populations of these two animals would be studied.

a. rmax would be greater for an elephant as elephant reproduces at a faster rate than flea. A shorter time scale would be used to study changes over several elephant generations.

b. rmax would be greater for a flea as flea reproduces at a faster rate than elephant. A shorter time scale would be used to study changes over several flea generations than over several elephant generations.

c. rmax would be greater for a flea as flea reproduces at a faster rate than elephant. A longer time scale would be used to study changes over several flea generations than over several elephant generations.

d. rmax would be greater for an elephant as the elephants grow at an exponential rate so the population growth rate is greatly increased. A shorter time scale would be used to study changes over several elephant generations.

Answer 1

The rmax of a flea is greater than that of an elephant due to their different rates of reproduction. This affects the time scale used to study population changes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The value "r" represents the intrinsic rate of increase, or the potential for reproduction, for a species. In this case, rmax refers to the maximum growth rate for a species. Fleas reproduce at a faster rate than elephants, so the rmax would be greater for a flea. This means that fleas have a higher intrinsic rate of growth. As a result, a shorter time scale would be used to study changes over several flea generations compared to several elephant generations.