A population ecologist is study the demographics of American bison living on a grassland in North Dakota.She captures,marks,and releases 100 bison.Later,she recaptures 100 bison and discovers that 50 were previously marked and half of those marked are of reproductive age.What is the population ecologist's estimate of how many bison in the total population are of reproductive age?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mark-and-recapture method assumes that the proportion of marked individuals in the recaptured sample is representative of the proportion of marked individuals in the entire population. Half of the 50 marked bison are of reproductive age, which means that 25 bison in the recaptured sample and, by extension, in the entire population, are of reproductive age. The total number of bison in the population is unknown, but it is irrelevant to the question of how many are of reproductive age. Therefore, the best choice is C) 100.

A Population Ecologist Is Study the Demographics of American Bison