The wolf and moose populations

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Our freshman class has been studying ecology and the wolf and moose population on Isle Royale this unit. We have gone through packets and models to learn more about how organisms have relations with one another in their physical surroundings. On top of that, we have gone through case studies and videos to learn more about the wolves and moose on the island. Throughout our investigation we had built a graph showing the populations of the moose and wolves. As we reached the end of our unit, our class was presented with a question:are the moose and wolf population on Isle Royale stable? I believe that the two populations are unstable because of the constant temporary disturbances, the inability to calculate a carrying capacity, and the lack of a pattern between predator and prey.
One example that shows that the wolf and moose population on Isle Royale are not stable are the constant temporary disturbances that cause the populations to fluctuate. The graph in Case Study Update #2 shows the wolf population at its peak in 1980 with 50 wolves on the island. However, in the same year a wolf disease was introduced to the island accidentally by humans, canine parvovirus, causing the population to drop and reach 14 wolves in 1982. Then in Case Study #3 another disturbance took an effect on the wolf population. In 1998, a new wolf that wandered from an ice bridge to Isle Royale was introduced to the local wolves. The new wolf, no.93, made itself at home and started breeding with other wolves resulting in many births and increased the population to 29 wolves. Unfortunately, the lack of food caused the population to drop down again to 17 in 2003. With these constant disturbances a few years after another, the wolf population does not look stab...

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...y shown on the graph to prove that the population is stable. There are more unstable examples illustrated on the graph making arguers who are for the wolf and moose population being stable look like they are at a fault.
In conclusion, the wolf and moose population are unstable because of too many temporary disturbances, an unknown carrying capacity, and a lack of a pattern between predator and prey. The constant temporary disturbances causes the populations to fluctuate which makes it difficult to calculate an accurate carrying capacity. Also, the lack of a pattern between predator and prey leads me to believe that the populations are unstable. I’m sure that if more time was illustrated on the graph there would be more information to support my claim, but for now the information shows that the wolf and moose population on Isle Royale are more unstable than stable.

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