Concept: The logistic model describes how a population grows more slowly as it
nears its carrying capacity
Carrying capacitynumber of individuals the environment can support
Logistic growth model
o Limiting factors are environmental factors that restrict population
growth
o Formula (EQUATION)
Rmaxmax possible growth
Kcarrying capacity (num individuals enviro can support)
o Proportion of enviro that individs can still use (what is available)
Multiple by growth and you get S-Curve
Fraction gets smaller and smaller, lesser growth and reaching
capacity
Closer to CC-- lower nutrition, poor reproduction, competition for
resources, less death, more birth
Look at book for more information
More intense growth rate ass you reach 0
o Arrow means when population is above or below CC, shows pop is
trying to reach equilibrium at CC
o Population is driving to CC unless something is interfering
Overshooting CapacityReindeer overshot CC (really rapid growth) and
crashed
o Really dramatic crashesno gradual decline; goes way below CC
Overshot, Correction
o Not all organisms go through a logistic growth
o CCstriving back down to CC or under CC
o Growth slows as reaching CC due to limitations in resources and
competition for resources
Concept: Many factors that regulate population growth are density-dependent
Limiting Factors: And essential resource in short supply; as populations grows,
regulation is affected
o Food, shelter, minerals, water, mats, suitable habitat
Density-dependent control: with increasing population size, limiting factors
are more intense
Negative Density-dependence: as population increases, you start to see
regulation
o Decrease in birth rate; increase in mortality; increase in disease,
competition, parasites, toxic products
o Arent as well fed, have issues with survival, cannot reproduce
Positive-density dependence: small sizes, organisms
o Decrease in birth rates
o Allee effectwhen populations get too small, they just cant find a
mate that they dont end up reproducing and populations decline
o Increase in mortality
o Cant form social groups
Density-dependent factors can affect birth and/or death rate
o Fig 56.19
o Low pop density, low death rate
o High pop density, high death rate
o Low pop density, high birth rate and low death rate; high pop density,
low birth rate, high death rate
Density-Independent Controls: not affected by population size
o Birth and death rate unaffected
o Natural disasters/climate change affect both small and large
populations
o Fluctuations in environment that will wipe out a population/check a
population/bring a population down
o Natural Population Growth: populations naturally fluctuate due to
complex interactions
o Oscillating
o Hard to determine CC for these populations
o Not getting to a density where density becomes a problem; never
really depletes resources; resources shifting so much with shifting
environment
o Cyclic patternsten year cycle on Lynx-Hare Graph; same pattern in
main predator of Hare; slightly offset to peak (boom in lynx after boom
in hare)
Prey-predator
Prey and its food (willows and birch become depleted and hares
must scavengeresource limitation on hare)
Logistic model and life history traits
o Vary with environment organism is in
o K-selection (density-dependent selection)
Selects for life history traits sensitive to population density
Refers to carrying capacity (living close to)
Stable populations; predictable environments; resources are
limited, but pretty stable
Individuals better at getting resources; more efficient at
extracting resources, have competitive edge
Large young (more competitive than smaller young)
Greater parental investment (parental care, resources
pumped into egg/sperm, holding embryo more internally,
gestation period)
Fewer young
Longer generation times
o r-selection (density-independent selection)
selects for life history traits that maximize reproduction
unpredictable environment, probably never near CC, resources
are not limited
reproduce before you die (whatever you can do)
Lots of offspring; shorter gestation period; early maturation; no
parental investment; short generation times; dispersal ability
Concept: The human population is no longer growing exponentially, but is still
increasing rapidly
