Lynx–Hare Population Cycle Game

Students simulate lynx–hare interactions with cards in a defined habitat. Across generations, hares reproduce and lynx “hunt,” producing coupled population booms and crashes that model density-dependent regulation and carrying capacity.

• See method in links below.

Lynx Eats the Hare Activity - Julian Buss:

Lynx and Hare - Julian Buss:

📄 Lynx Eats the Hare - Flinn Scientific: https://www.flinnsci.com/api/library/Download/4f38a1b4677041f18bb08b9a14cbd70c

• 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.

• None

* 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.)