In a particular population of plants researchers have found that 50% of plants in their first year of life live to be second year plants, 25% of second year plants live to be third year plants, and all third year plants die before becoming fourth year plants. In this population of plants no reproduction occurs in the first year, an average second year plant produces 5 offspring that survive to be first year plants, and an average third year plant produces 8 offspring that survive long enough to become first year plants.
(a) If the population has 60 first year plants, 30 second year plants, and 10 third year plants in 2014, how many plants of each age category will there be in one year? Show your work.
(b) How fast is this population growing? (Express growth rate in any of the ways that we have discussed in
class.) Show your work.
(c) Was this population at its stable age distribution in 2014? Explain and you MUST show all the calculations for all three parts of this question.