Reference no: EM132842923

Tired of the mundane routine of working/studying from home, a friend of yours decides to turn their backyard into an at-home oasis. They begin by installing a small pond complete with a fountain and a dozen aquatic plants. However, they soon notice that small, herbivorous, aquatic snails have appeared in their pond - they must have hitched a ride on the plants purchased from the garden centre! At first the aquatic snail population grows explosively, but after a while the rate of growth slows. The population temporarily stabilizes, although your friend notices the aquatic plants have started to show noticeable signs of herbivore damage. Then one day the snails and the plants are gone! The population of snails has crashed.

1. Describe what would happen and why, if your friend had added an additional three dozen plants to the pond at the time when the snail population size had initially stabilized (i.e., before they experienced a population crash). In your answer, be sure to make reference to the population growth models and appropriate terms discussed in class.

2. Assume that, during the time the population had stabilized and prior to the population crash, fall arrived, it suddenly got very cold and most snails died because they froze to death (assume the plants are winter hardy, i.e. not killed by cold). What type of limiting factor would this be and why?