Population Regulation and a General Model

In the last chapter we discussed the general concept of density-dependent negative feedback and its effect on the individual rate of increase. As we were most interested in the basic feedback structure of the system, we did not concern ourselves unduly with the mechanisms involved, or with a correct form for the negative feedback function. In this chapter, therefore, we will look at the biological processes involved in the regulation of population growth with an eye to developing a more general model of the population system.