Okay some pretty good thoughts came out of the last thread and I'd like to build on this a bit more. The one thing that caught my imagination most was the idea that in good times a population's territory may expand very slowly and that such times are primarily manifest by an increase in population density. Conversely, during bad times populations tend to disperse more quickly. The concept that bad times may more effectively spread a populations influence than good times is a bit counter intuitive but it has a beauty all its own.

Anyway here is my question, any ideas or observations of what happens to a "fat" population once things start to go south? I can infer drops in reproductive rates and recruitment into the adult population are the first things that happen to bring the population back into equilibrium but at what point does inter-population competition become intense enough that actual dispersion begins and could incidence of cannibalism be a measure of this?

Here on the east coast I find few habitats that are in anything near pristine condition. Perhaps the reason I'm so certain that our kings are completely cannibalistic is because kings here are almost always in a stressed dispersal mode.

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“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emmerson

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