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Lionfish Invasion: Density Dependent Population Dynamics
population growth rate. (You may want to note that this relationship is nonlinear. If the population is
already high-density, further increasing density may have less of an effect, since cannibalism appears to
slow down at high densities.)
3. Although the cannibal crabs in this study had another food source, they did not eat all of it during the
experiment. This result suggests that cannibalism was not a response to starvation. How else might these
crabs benefit from cannibalism?
Student answers will vary. They may suggest that the cannibals get more nutrition from other crabs or
catch other crabs more easily, compared to other food sources. Cannibalism may also reduce intraspecific
competition for food and space and therefore increase the cannibals’ survival rate.
CA
SE STUDY 5: Predation of mosquito larvae
1. How did the number of mosquito larvae killed by predators change as the density of larvae increased?
As the density of larvae increased, more larvae were killed by predators. The increase is steeper at first,
then flattens out at higher densities of larvae. (Some students may recognize that the relationship is
nonlinear.)
2. B
ased on your answer to the previous question, how might the mosquito population growth rate change as
the density of mosquito larvae increases?
As the density of mosquito larvae increases, more larvae will be killed by predators, which will likely
reduce the mosquito population growth rate. (You may want to note that this relationship is nonlinear. If
the population is already high-density, further increasing density may have less of an effect, since
predation appears to slow down at high densities.)
REFERENCES
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Ben
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Bryan, David R., Jeremiah Blondeau, Ashley Siana, and Jerald S. Ault. “Regional differences in an established
population of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles) in south Florida.” PeerJ 6 (2018): e5700.
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5700
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Côté, I. M., and N. S. Smith. “The lionfish Pterois sp. invasion: Has the worst-case scenario come to pass?”
Journal of Fish Biology 92, 3 (2018): 660–689.
ht
tps://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13544
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Dahl, Kristen A., Morgan A. Edwards, and William F. Patterson III. “Density-dependent condition and growth of
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https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13028
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Hare. “Native fish community structure and Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans densities along a depth-
temperature gradient in Onslow Bay, North Carolina, USA.” Marine Ecology Progress Series 509 (2014): 241–254.
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