Population Basics
What term describes all organisms of the same species living in the same geographical area with the ability to interbreed?
Population
What is the main goal of wildlife management?
Maintain healthy wildlife populations and habitats
What pesticide became known for causing problems with eggshell thinning in birds?
DDT
What device can be attached to an elk to monitor its location and movement?
GPS Collar
What is one method scientists can use to estimate a fish population?
Electrofishing or mark-and-recapture
What is the term for the number of wildlife an area can support based on available food, shelter, and water?
Carrying Capacity
What do wildlife managers call the practice of protecting and improving natural areas where animals live?
Habitat Management
How did DDT enter the food supply?
It was used as a pesticide and entered the environment through spraying, contaminating organisms in the food chain.
What method is commonly used to track waterfowl movement over long distances?
Bird Banding
What population estimation technique involves capturing, marking, releasing, and recapturing animals?
Mark and Recapture
What is an element of a habitat that controls or restricts population size?
Limiting Factor
What is the term for a species that is at risk of becoming extinct?
Endangered Species
What group of animals was especially affected by DDT because of eggshell thinning?
What technology allows researchers to follow an animal's location using signals from a transmitter?
Radio Telemetry
Why do researchers mark animals before releasing them during a population study?
To identify previously captured animals during recapture.
What term describes the total number of deaths per year per 1,000 individuals in a population?
What is the term for bringing a species back into an area where it once lived?
Reintroduction
Why can a pollutant entering a food chain become dangerous to wildlife?
Pollutants can accumulate in organisms and cause harmful health or reproductive effects.
Why might wildlife researchers track elk movement throughout the year?
To study migration, habitat use, seasonal movement, and behavior.
If researchers capture 40 fish and 10 have already been marked, what percentage of the catch was previously marked?
25%
What is the number of live births per female per year called?
Reproductive Rate
Why might wildlife managers use hunting regulations to help manage animal populations?
To prevent overpopulation, maintain healthy populations, and keep populations within the habitat's carrying capacity.
What process causes pollutants to increase in concentration from the environment into the first organism in a food chain?
Bioaccumulation
Why is tracking waterfowl important to wildlife management?
It helps researchers understand migration routes, habitat use, and population movement.
Researchers originally tagged 10 ducks. Across five trials, they captured 89 ducks total, and 8 of those captures had tags. Using the mark-and-recapture formula, what is the estimated duck population?
Approximately 111 Ducks