Biology 1120: Conservation Biology

Instructor: Jonas Misiuk

POPULATION GROWTH

1. How many seeds were in your initial pepper? This represents the first generation. My first
generation of pepper had 50 seeds. I decided to do the same experiment using two different
populations (beans and peppers) just to compare them with each other. For the pepper, I counted
50 seeds and for the beans, 25.

2. How many plants were alive in your pepper population after only 5 generations?
Years 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Peppers 50 2500 125000 6250000 312500000

Peppers
400000000

300000000

200000000

100000000

0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Years 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

Beans 25 625 15625 390625 9765625

Beans
12000000
10000000
8000000
6000000
4000000
2000000
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

1
3. Describe your graph. The graph displays the exponential growth of a given population. In this
instance, the growth of peppers and beans. Although they had a different starting point, both
growths were exponential and in J shape. If there were no limitations or factors to prevent
unlimited growth, they would keep growing exponentially.

4. Make a list of five environmental factors that might limit natural or wild populations (not
necessarily pepper plant or human populations).

- Predators
- Food
- Water
- Space
- Weather

5. If a population were subjected to some of these environmental factors for a considerable

length of time, would you expect to see any changes in the population? Based on the
information provided above, explain your answer. BE SPECIFIC – which factors would cause
which changes?

- Predators: The more food predators have, the more they will reproduce and live on. An
abundance of food also means an abundance of predators causing the population to be
eventually balanced and predator and population become stable in harmony

- Food: For plants or animals, the lack of food supply would cause the population to shrink
to the point that food supply would be enough for the remaining. Then the shrinking
would stop.

- Water: Lack of water for a long period of time can completely decimate populations.
Plant populations are severely affected because they cannot search for water and only
hope it will come. This could completely eradicate a population.

- Space: Once there is not enough room for growth, the stronger will survive replacing the
ones that die. Plant seeds for example would end up in improper soil and maybe never
sprout.

- Weather: Weather can also exterminate populations but could also control population
growth. Severe weather conditions may cause only the strong to survive, thus reducing
number.