A Population Ecologist Is Studying the Demographics of American Bison

question 66

Multiple Choice

A population ecologist is studying the demographics of American bison living on a grassland in North Dakota. She captures, marks, and releases 100 bison. Later, she recaptures 100 bison and discovers that 50 were previously marked and half of those marked are of reproductive age. What is the population ecologist's estimate of how many bison in the total population are of reproductive age?

• A) 200
• B) 50
• C) 100
• D) 20
• E) 10

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Definitions:

Marry

is the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.

Marriage

A legally and socially sanctioned union, usually between two people, that is regulated by laws, rules, customs, beliefs, and attitudes that prescribe the rights and duties of the partners.

Total Fertility Rates

Total fertility rates represent the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, given current birth rates.

Divorce Rates

Refers to the statistical measure of the number of divorces that occur in a population during a given year per 1,000 members of the population.