Question
What may cause a population to temporarily overshoot its carrying capacity? a a decrease in birth rates b a reproductive time lag c an increase in predators d an increase in emigration
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GPT-4o mini
A population may temporarily overshoot its carrying capacity primarily due to **b) a reproductive time lag**.
When populations experience favorable conditions such as abundance of resources, they can reproduce rapidly. However, there can be a delay (time lag) in responding to these conditions, leading to a population increase that exceeds the environment's capacity to support them.
The other options may influence population dynamics but would not directly cause a temporary overshoot:
- **a) A decrease in birth rates** would generally lead to a reduction in population growth.
- **c) An increase in predators** might decrease the population size.
- **d) An increase in emigration** would also lead to a decline in population size.
Therefore, the answer is **b) a reproductive time lag**.
When populations experience favorable conditions such as abundance of resources, they can reproduce rapidly. However, there can be a delay (time lag) in responding to these conditions, leading to a population increase that exceeds the environment's capacity to support them.
The other options may influence population dynamics but would not directly cause a temporary overshoot:
- **a) A decrease in birth rates** would generally lead to a reduction in population growth.
- **c) An increase in predators** might decrease the population size.
- **d) An increase in emigration** would also lead to a decline in population size.
Therefore, the answer is **b) a reproductive time lag**.
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