What to do!!

Causes of Overpopulation

The overpopulation of a species can result from a variety of factors. The most common include:

1. The introduction of a foreign species for which it has no natural predators. Often, such species become invasive, as seen in the above examples of zebra mussels and the introduction of rabbits in Australia.
2. An increased birth rate will result in population growth, which can lead to the overpopulation of a species if such growth exceeds the resources within a particular geographic area.
3. Decreased mortality rates can result in the overpopulation of a species if the increased lifespan of a species results in limiting the available resources within an ecological niche.
4. A reduction in available resources can result in overpopulation if the amount of available resources cannot sustain the population within that region. Some examples include desert environments or times of drought which make crops and other sources of food scarce.

Solutions for Overpopulation

Historically, there have been several situations for which overpopulated species could not be managed naturally. In these instances, issues with overpopulation have been overcome using a variety of methods. One of the most common causes of overpopulation is the introduction of foreign species to a new ecological niche for which they have no natural predators. A famous example is the introduction of rabbits to Australia in the 19th century, where they had no natural predators. In an attempt to control the overpopulation of rabbits in Australia, several different methods were employed. Poison, hunting, a rabbit-proof gate, and the introduction of predators (e.g., ferrets and cats) were some methods used in an attempt to control the rabbit population. However, after these methods failed, scientists released the myxoma virus into the rabbit population. Myxoma virus is a rabbit-specific virus that successfully reduced the rabbit population by approximately 500 million.