Question

Two species of flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium confuum, are competing according to the Lotka‒Volterra equations. If the α of T. confuum on T. castaneum is 0.4, one can assume that the addition of 200 T. confuumi individuals would depress the population growth of T. castaneum by the same amount as the addition of _______ T. castaneum individuals would

Answer 1

Castaneum population growth rate by the same amount as the addition of (225) T. castaneum individuals would.

The alpha value of 1.5 for T. freemani on T. castaneum tells us that the presence of T. freemani individuals significantly depresses the growth rate of T. castaneum.

We can say that this means adding 150 T. freemani individuals will cause a noticeable decrease in T. castaneum population growth.

Adding 225 T. castaneum individuals is more likely to cause a deeper depression in its own population growth rate compared to 150 T. freemani due to the higher number and the intraspecific competition between T. castaneum individuals.

complete question:
Two species of flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum and Tribolium freemani, are competing according to the Lotka–Volterra equations. If the α of T. freemani on T. castaneum is 1.5, the addition of 150 T. freemani individuals would depress the T. castaneum population growth rate by the same amount as the addition of _______ T. castaneum individuals would.

1) 0

2) 75

3) 150

4) 225