COMPETING FOR RESOURCES

•  The resources of any one environment are limited. Depending on which plants and animals share the environment, there may not be enough of everything to go around. All organisms need water, food, and shelter to stay alive. These resources are beneficial, or good for organisms.  When an environment is low on its supply of any of these things, organisms have to compete for them. Those who get to the resources first have the best chance of survival. Being without water, food, or shelter for very long is detrimental, or harmful, to organisms.

• The resources of an area determine the size of the plant and animal populations there. When the number of living things grows too large, the weakest of the populations will not be able to get the resources they need. As the weak die out, the populations get smaller until the area’s resources can support them. Sometimes people will step in, capture members of large animal populations, and move some of them to another location with less competition so that they can all survive. Sometimes the government will allow hunting of large animal populations, such as deer or rabbits, as a food source for people. When there are too many of these animals for an area, they come into the cities looking for food and cause trouble. Hunting keeps their numbers under control.

 Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Do not forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm   your answers.

1)  Why do organisms sometimes have to compete for resources?

2)  What kinds of things are beneficial for organisms?

3)  What kinds of things are detrimental for organisms?

4)  What happens when populations grow too large for an area?

5)  Do you think hunting or relocation is a better solution for over-sized animal populations? Why?