The following section focuses on the elk population in Yellowstone National Park. Read the information below and use it to answer the multiple-choice questions that follow Yellowstone National Park is a large wildlife area located mostly in Wyoming Yellowstone is home to many species of mammals, including elk. The elk feed on grasses and on
cottonwood, aspen, and willow trees. Historically, a significant portion of the elk population died each winter because winters in Yellowstone were long and very cold, with deep
snow. Over the past 50 years the climate in Yellowstone has become warmer and snowfall amounts have decreased. More elk have been surviving the winters, but populations
of scavengers have been decreasing. Scavengers feed on the carcasses of animals. The reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone in the 1990s affected elk population
size and has contributed to the recovery of some scavenger populations Wolves prey on elk and other animals
When wolves make a kill, they feed until they are full and then they leave the carcass behind. Researchers have studied the changes in elk mortality (number of deaths) in
Yellowstone by using data and mathematical models to calculate the average number of elks that die (represented by number of carcasses) from November to April each year.
The results, with wolves present and without wolves present, are shown in the graph below
Based on these data, scientists can estimate the size of scavenger populations through the winter. The graph below shows the size of a scavenger population with wolves
present and without wolves present.
What is the most likely carrying capacity for the scavengers in the Yellowstone National Park? (L.175)