Final answer:
Paramecium caudatum grows in a logistic pattern when grown alone, where population growth levels off as resources become scarce, in contrast to exponential growth where growth accelerates as the population increases.
Step-by-step explanation:
When grown alone, Paramecium caudatum grows in a logistic pattern. This pattern is characterized by a population's expansion decreasing as resources become scarce, and it levels off when the carrying capacity of the environment is reached, often depicted as an S-shaped curve. This contrasts with exponential growth, where the population starts out growing slowly but grows at an increasing rate as population size increases, typically shown as a J-shaped curve.
An example of exponential population growth is bacteria growing in an enriched medium in a lab. This occurs because the conditions allow for rapid and continuous reproduction without resource limitations. However, in natural environments, resources are not unlimited, leading to logistic population growth, like that of the Paramecium caudatum when grown alone. The type of dispersal pattern characterized by even spacing between individuals in a population is known as uniform dispersal.