Apopulation of mountain lions lives in an alpine forest. the mountain lions hunt deer, rabbits, and other prey. as the population increases, which
of these events becomes more likely to occur?
a
female mountain lions raise an increasing number of pups per litter, and a greater percentage of pups survive to adulthood.
b
competition for territory and other resources acts to slow the growth rate of the population
c. a wildfire, drought, or other natural disaster acts to decrease the mountain lion population by at least 50 percent
d. a decrease in competition acts to increase the growth rate of the population

The correct answer is B. Competition for territory and other resources acts to slow the growth rate of the population.

Explanation:

Mountain lions are solitary animals who live on mountains of colder areas and hunts on prey like deer, rabbits, sheep, and goats. Every mountain lion has its territory and aggressively defend their territory from other members of their population.

So when the population of mountain lions will increase the competition for territory and other resources will also increase and in ecology, we have learned that competition is a negative interaction between two individuals which decreases the chances of survival for at least one individual.

So due to competition growth rate of the population will slow down to decrease the competition. Therefore, the correct answer is B. Competition for territory and other resources acts to slow the growth rate of the population.

The event that is likely to occur as the population of the mountain lions increases is that competition for territory and other resources acts to slow the growth rate of the population.

The population of any species of organisms cannot keep increasing infinitely because resources are limited in reality.

As the population of mountain lions in the alpine forest increases, intra-species competition increases as well. This competition could be for food, mates, space or any other limited resources.

Unless the resources available to a population increase to match up with population increase, the population growth will slow down and eventually levels off around the environments carrying capacity.

By carrying capacity, it means the maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can support based on the resources it has.

More on carrying capacity can be found here: