In many rural areas, stray cats are a problem as they may return to being wild feral cats that have not been spayed or neutered can reproduce, which may result in a population of feral cats. One pair of cats can produce 12 kittens in one year, and half of these kittens are female; this increased population would potentially produce 84 kittens in the second year. In 5-years, the population could reach almost 33000 feral cats. A) What conditions or factors would have to be in place for the population to achieve its biotic potential?
Population Growth
R and K Selection
R and K selection are concepts in ecology used to describe traits in the fluctuation of a population or population dynamics. For example, they describe the life-association traits between parent and offspring, such as quantity or number of young ones born at a time, quality of parental care, the age to maturity, and reproductive effort.
In many rural areas, stray cats are a problem as they may return to being wild feral cats that have not been spayed or neutered can reproduce, which may result in a population of feral cats. One pair of cats can produce 12 kittens in one year, and half of these kittens are female; this increased population would potentially produce 84 kittens in the second year. In 5-years, the population could reach almost 33000 feral cats.
A) What conditions or factors would have to be in place for the population to achieve its biotic potential?
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