======Lynx–Hare Population Cycle Game======


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**Materials: **{{$demo.materials_description}}\\
**Difficulty: **{{$demo.difficulty_description}}\\
**Safety: **{{$demo.safety_description}}\\
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**Categories:** {{$demo.categories}}
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**Alternative titles:** Lynx Eats the Hare
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====Summary====                   
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====Procedure====  
  * See method in links below.



====Links==== 
Lynx Eats the Hare Activity - Julian Buss: 
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Lynx and Hare - Julian Buss: 
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📄 Lynx Eats the Hare - Flinn Scientific: [[https://www.flinnsci.com/api/library/Download/4f38a1b4677041f18bb08b9a14cbd70c]]\\


====Variations====
  * Introduce events: disease, fire, harsh winter, hunting/trapping that reduce one population in a chosen generation.  
  * Change habitat size or shape (rectangle, corridor) and compare encounter rates.  
  * Adjust hare growth rule (e.g., cap at a carrying capacity) and compare dynamics.  
  * Add immigration/emigration (add/remove a lynx or hare every few generations).  
  * Compare results across groups and average to reduce randomness.



====Safety Precautions====
  * None




====Questions to Consider====
 * How are the lynx and hare populations related over time? (Hares rise first, then lynx increase after a lag; rising predation drives hare decline, followed by lynx decline.)  
  * What happens to hares if lynx go extinct? (Hares grow rapidly toward carrying capacity and may overshoot and crash due to other limits like food.)  
  * What happens to lynx if hares go extinct? (Lynx numbers plummet; without alternative prey, local extinction is likely.)  
  * Name three other factors that could influence these populations. (Weather extremes, disease/parasitism, habitat/food availability, human hunting/trapping.)  
  * During low hare abundance, what happens to vegetation? (Vegetation recovers/increases due to reduced grazing pressure.)