The New Mexico Division of Fish and Wildlife keeps track of the silvery minnow population in the Rio Grande River. They tagged 54 silvery minnows and released them. A week later, they captured 62 silvery minnows, including 12 tagged silvery minnows. What is a good estimate of the silvery minnow population in the Rio Grande River?
tagged = 12/62 = .1935
so .1935x = 54
x = 279
Thank you so much!! REINY!!
so what is the answers
To estimate the silvery minnow population in the Rio Grande River, you can use a method called mark and recapture. In this method, you assume that the ratio of tagged minnows to the total captured minnows is representative of the ratio of tagged minnows to the total population.
Here's how to calculate this estimate:
1. Start by setting up a proportion between the number of tagged minnows and the total population:
tagged minnows / total population = recaptured tagged minnows / total recaptured minnows.
2. Plug in the given values into the proportion:
54 / total population = 12 / 62.
3. Cross-multiply and solve for the total population:
12 * total population = 54 * 62.
4. Divide both sides of the equation by 12 to isolate the total population:
total population = (54 * 62) / 12.
Calculating this equation gives you a good estimate of the silvery minnow population in the Rio Grande River. In this case, the total population is approximately 279.
So, a good estimate of the silvery minnow population in the Rio Grande River would be around 279 minnows.