Table of Contents

• The mystery
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The mystery
• 3. Exponential growth
• 4. Population dynamics
• 5. Exponential growth equation
• 6. You write the equation
• 7. Applet: Exp. growth
• 8. Summary of exp. growth
• 9. Assumptions about exp. growth
• 10. Applet: Once more with mortality
• 11. ...and an equation
• The plot thickens
• 12. Examining assumptions
• 13. Assumptions get violated
• 14. Carrying capacity...
• 15....mathematically expressed
• 16. Logistic growth
• 17. Applet: ... among elephants
• 18. Applet: ... among mice
• 19. Applet: ... among moths
• 20. Detour: chaotic dynamics
• 21. Applet: Seasonal changes
• 22. Applet: Disturbance = Death
• The case is cracked
• 23. You be the detective
• 24. Just the facts ma'am

Assumptions get violated

Here are some ways the second assumption could be violated:

• Individual flies might have different number of offspring depending on how fit they were (how much they got to eat, whether they lifted weights or did aerobics, etc).

• All flies might have the same number of babies in any given month, but this number might be in different months -- maybe in the summer flies reproduce faster, but in the winter, not so fast.

• The number of eggs per fly might also vary depending on how many flies there were -- too many flies fighting for the same rotten banana might depress everyone's reproduction -- whereas if there are only a few flies on that same banana, everyone prospers and has babies galore.

She had been feeding me red herring without the bagel and cream cheese, but I was onto her game now. "Tell, me, Sweet Wings. What happened once the big banana was gone?" "I ... I don't know what you mean," she stammered. I'd seen better acting at my first grade Christmas pageant.