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Analysis

1. "Carrying capacity" is the term used to mean how large a population a given area can support. Based on this model, what factors do you think affect the carrying capacity of sheep on this field?
   
   
2. What natural or human events might change the carrying capacity of an area for deer?
   
   
3. Instead of a rancher removing some sheep each year, imagine natural predators, such as wolves. How would this be the same as or different from a rancher? (Hint: how does a rancher or wolf decide how many sheep to remove?)
   
   
4. Do you think the wolf population would be stable, the way the sheep population is?
   
   

5. For some animals, as the population gets denser, the reproduction rate goes down. For example, mice reduce the size of their litter if the food supply is limited.

   1. Why would this be useful?
      
      
   2. Try doing this by hand with the model. You can adjust the birthrate while the model is running. See if you can reduce fluctuations in the population by lowering the birthrate as the density goes up, and increasing it as the density goes down.