Evaluate the conditions necessary for rapid population growth (e.g., given adequate living and nonliving resources and no disease or predators, populations of an organism increase at rapid rates).
Life Science
Ecosystems
In prior grades students learned to apply key concepts about ecosystems to understand the interactions among organisms and the nonliving environment. In grades 9-11 students learn about the factors that foster or limit growth of populations within ecosystems and that help to maintain the health of the ecosystem overall. Organisms participate in the cycles of matter and flow of energy to survive and reproduce. Given abundant resources, populations can increase at rapid rates. But living and nonliving factors limit growth, resulting in ecosystems that can remain stable for long periods of time. Understanding the factors that affect populations is important for many societal issues, from decisions about protecting endangered species to questions about how to meet the resource needs of civilization while maintaining the health and sustainability of Earth’s ecosystems.
Living organisms have the capacity to produce very large populations. Population density is the number of individuals of a particular population living in a given amount of space.