How+hunters+affect+the+hunted+(Science+Fair+Project)

Problem Statement:
 * How do hunters affect the hunted?

Background Research

Hunting is the process of catching and killing animals for food, resources or sport. This process has been around since the first hunter-gatherers of the stone ages. Hunters today are only allowed to kill male game animals of a certain size. The females and young are off limits, killing one would result in the hunter paying a fine. Hunters prey on animals from all the predatory levels in an ecosystem. Various forms of hunting include Trapping, Still Hunting, The presence of hunting is our Independent Variable for this experiment.

Animals are known to change the looks of their population to suit the changing environment. They may begin to reproduce at a younger age, produce more females than males, or reach a smaller size at maturity. Predator species usually hunt the weakest member of a herd, while hunters do not. The decrease of a certain animal population would also affect those who prey on that certain game species. Also, when the predator species is hunted, the prey population would increase until the ecosystem's carrying capacity is reached. It may decrease due to other predators or widespread disease among the population. The change in animal population is the Dependent Variable in this Experiment.

The constants include the amount of game hunted per day, The size and gender hunted, and the presence of any outside influences that could harm the species. The amount of game hunted should be kept constant to show the change in animal population more accurately. The size and gender should be kept consatant to not violate game and hunting laws. Any outside influences such as roadkill accidents could also skew the results if present.

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[|http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=E4JyZgr8y50C&oi=fnd&pg=PP7&dq=how+do+hunters+affect+the+hunted&ots=5dp5cjVFAo&sig=_27AzHHOA9IE9BPLvI0QTwTBOHQ#v=onepage&q=how%20do%20hunters%20affect%20the%20hunted&f=false]

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