Zika-Busting Mosquitoes ■ 355b. Currently, the Florida Department of Health may require people
to remove standing water from their yards in order to decrease
breeding habitat for mosquitoes. Should people be allowed not
to comply with this order, given that the yard is their private
property? Explain your reasoning.(^14) Life choices Do you feel that people should choose to limit
the number of children they have, given the increasing human
population? Alternatively, should people focus on decreasing their
own ecological footprint—given that, for example, one American
uses the same amount of resources as do four Chinese citizens?
Explain your reasoning.
(^15) Is it science? Your best friend found a Reddit thread stating
that GM mosquitoes do not suppress the population size of
Zika-bearing mosquitoes, and instead claimed that Zika was
caused by the release of GM mosquitoes. Putting aside the idea
that Zika was caused by GM mosquitoes, which is refuted by
multiple studies as discussed on many legitimate websites, you
decide to simply show your friend some data comparing mosquito
population sizes in areas with and without GM mosquitoes. In your
own words, write a paragraph that describes the results shown in
the figure here and explains to your friend how they relate to the
scientific claims he read.
(^9) Place the following elements in the strategy to control
mosquito populations in the correct order from earliest to latest by
numbering them from 1 to 5.
a. Scientists genetically modify male mosquitoes in the lab.
b. Mosquito offspring produced by the matings do not survive
to adulthood.
c. GM male mosquitoes mate with normal wild females.
d. The mosquito population decreases dramatically.
e. Scientists release GM male mosquitoes into the wild.
Tr y Something New
(^10) Draw a diagram that illustrates the possible fluctuating
population cycles of a predator, such as the mountain lion, and
its prey species, such as deer. The prey regularly experiences
population crashes when it overgrazes its food source. Label
your axes.
(^11) An artificial pond at a college campus was populated with
several mating pairs of pond slider turtles. After many years
of slow population growth, campus administrators installed a
coin-operated food dispenser at the pond’s edge. Students and
community members bought and fed the turtles an enormous
amount of food each day, causing the population of turtles in the
pond to increase exponentially. How did the installation of the food
dispenser affect the carrying capacity of the turtle population at
this pond?
(^12) Suppose that population ecologists at the college in question
11 determined that the number of turtles in the pond had
increased from 6 individuals to 24 individuals in just the first year
after installation of the coin-operated food dispenser. What is the
population doubling time for the turtles in this population?
(a) 6 years
(b) 6 months
(c) 1 year
(d) 1 month
Leveling Up
(^13) What do you think? Some Florida residents do not want to
allow genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes to be released, even
though they have been demonstrated to significantly reduce
mosquito-borne illnesses in Brazil.
a. Should Floridians be allowed to decide not to have GM
mosquitoes released in their neighborhoods? Should this
question be decided by vote? Explain your reasoning.
For more, visit digital.wwnorton.com/bionow2 for access to:
E D q M
Conventionally treated area
Area with released GM mosquitoes
Mosquito larvae population numbers in areas with and
without released GM mosquitoes
Wild mosquito larvae per trap in each area*
0
4/15/20154/29/20155/13/20155/27/20156/10/20156/24/20157/8/20157/22/20158/5/20158/19/20159/2/20159/16/20159/30/2015
10/14/201510/28/201511/11/201511/25/2015
12/9/2015
12/23/2015
5
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Source: Oxitec *Mean Aedes aegypti Larvae/trap—4 week rolling average