In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon National Game Preserve on the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona. The preserve was created to protect deer from hunting and predation, which had reduced the population of Kaibab deer to only about 4000. Hunters were prohibited from shooting deer, but they were allowed to shoot the deers predators, including cougars and coyotes. Between 1907 and 1923, over 600 cougars and 3000 coyotes were trapped or killed. As a result, the deer herd began to increase. By 1915, the deer were estimated at 25,000; by 1920, at 50,000; and by 1923, at approximately 100,000.
If you were to graph the population growth of the Kaibab deer from 1906 to 1923, what would you see?
a. a straight line, showing a steady increase over time
b. a J-shaped upward curve showing a very rapid increase
c. an up-and-down, wavelike pattern
d. an S-shaped curve that shows a smooth, rapid increase leveling off in 1923
