A population of rabbits is known to be declining due to disease. Which of the following statements about the population growth rate is true?

Core Concept

The primary reason the statement is true is that the population is declining due to disease, which indicates that the population growth rate is decreasing. This is a characteristic of exponential decay, not exponential growth. (B) is incorrect because a decreasing population growth rate does not necessarily imply that the population is growing. (C) is incorrect because a horizontal asymptote represents a limit as x approaches infinity, not as x approaches a point in time. (D) is incorrect because a vertical asymptote represents a point of discontinuity, not a limit as x approaches a point in time.