Animal species produce more offspring when their supply of food goes up. Some animals appear able to anticipate unusual food abundance. Red squirrels eat seeds from pinecones, a food source that sometimes has very large crops. Researchers collected data on an index of the abundance of pinecones and the average number of offspring per female over 16 years.4 Computer output from a least-squares regression on these data and a residual plot are shown here.

a. Is a linear model appropriate for these data? Explain.

b. Give the equation for the least-squares regression line. Define any variables you use.

c. Interpret the values of r² and s in context.

Transcribed Image Text:

Predictor Coef SE Coef T P Constant 1.4146 0.2517 5.62 0.000 Cone index 0.4399 0.1016 4.33 0.001 S=0.600309 R-Sq = 57.2% R-Sq(adj)= 54.2%