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Killing only a few animals won't do any harm -- or will it?

07-23-2007 · EurekAlert!

Sometimes killing even a few individuals can have dramatic consequences, causing populations to fluctuate wildly. The regulation of populations is usually determined by the properties of one specific size class of individuals. When such a crucial size class is the target of mortality, unexpected things may happen. In harvested cannibalistic fish populations, individuals may reach "giant" sizes, more than double the size of those in unharvested population in heavily fished lakes.

Keywords: killing, animals, won, harm, animal

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