Question: Prey attracts predators Here is one way in which nature regulates the size of animal populations: high population density attracts predators, which remove a higher proportion of the population than when the density of the prey is low. One study looked at kelp perch and their common predator, the kelp bass. The researcher set up four large circular pens on sandy ocean bottoms off the coast of southern California. He chose young perch at random from a large group and placed 10, 20, 40, and 60 perch in the four pens. Then he dropped the nets protecting the pens, allowing bass to swarm in, and counted the perch left after two hours. Here are data on the proportions of perch eaten in four repetitions of this setup:
The explanatory variable is the number of perch (the prey) in a confined area. The response variable is the proportion of perch killed by bass (the predator) in two hours when the bass are allowed access to the perch. A scatterplot of the data shows a linear relationship. We used Minitab software to carry out a least-squares regression analysis for these data. A residual plot and a histogram of the residuals are shown below. Check whether the conditions for performing inference about the regression model are met.
