Download competitive exclusion principle simulation

How does competition affect population growth?
The purpose of this lab is to develop an understanding of the
“competitive exclusion principle”. This lab simulates an
environment in which 2 different species of paramecium compete for
resources.
Biology Virtual Lab 5.
GO TO: hard drive...applications...biology labs virtual....lab 5...
Part A. Population ecology – Read “procedure”.
1. Follow the directions for this lab and maintain your data on
the data sheet provided. Make certain you read all of the material
provided. Lab work requires you to read the background
information to prepare for the actual activity.
Make sure that you place P. aurelia in test tube 1, P. caudatum in
test tube 2 and both P. aurelia and P. caudatum in test tube 3 (this is
represented by the “mixed” columns on your data table.
Use the data table provided to keep track of your populations.
2. Answer these questions regarding the paramecium and lab set
up as you read the directions.
a. What are the scientific names (Genus species) of your two
species?
b. List what did you put into each of your test tubes in
addition to the Paramecium.
Test tube 1: P. aurelia,
Test tube 2: P. caudatum,
Test tube 3: P. aurelia and P. caudatum,
3. Do NOT click on Journal questions.
4. Follow instructions for preparing a wet mount and counting your
paramecium population. Note: you need to multiply the number of
paramecium cells you counted by 2, because your slide well only
holds .5 ml of culture. Your calculations are based on 1.0 ml.
WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED WITH ALL OF THE DATA
COLLECTION ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.
a. What did you observe happen to the populations in each
test tube (increase? decrease? or remain the same?) ? Describe the
population change in each test tube separately.
P. aurelia
P. caudatum
Populations combined
b. What type of growth was exhibited by the test tube
populations containing only one of the species? (exponential?
logistic?)
5. Graph the populations of the 3rd test tube containing both species.
What is your independent variable? What is your dependent
variable? (remember “dry mix”)
a. Explain your graph results by describing the
interactions between these two species in test tube What do you think
caused these population changes related to the “competitive
exclusion principle”.