Your friend comes to you with a problem. It seems his shrimp boats aren't catching nearly as much shrimp as they used to. He can't understand why because he used to catch all the shrimp he could handle. Each year he added a new boat, and for a long time each boat caught tons of shrimp. As he added more boats, there came a time when each boat caught somewhat fewer shrimp, and now, each boat is catching a lot less shrimp. Which of the following topics might help your friend understand the source of his problem?
A) density-dependent population regulation and intrinsic characteristics of population growth
B) exponential growth curves and unlimited environmental resources
C) density-independent population regulation and chance occurrence
D) pollution effects of a natural environment and learned shrimp behavior
E) a K-selected population switching to an r-selected population

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Density-dependent population regulation and intrinsic characteristics of population growth are directly related to the decrease in shrimp catch over time. As more boats were added, the shrimping population likely became overpopulated, leading to decreased reproduction and survival rates, as well as increased competition for resources. This would result in decreased catch numbers over time.

Your Friend Comes to You with a Problem