Organism and Population Part 2

POPULATION:
 Population attributes:
 Population: a group of individual living in a well defined geographical area, share or compete for
similar resources, potentially interbreed.
 Birth rate and death rate refers to per capita births and deaths respectively.
 Another attribute is sex ratio.The ratio between male female in a population.
 If the age distribution is plotted for a population the resulting structure is called age pyramid.
 The shape of the pyramids reflects the growth status of the population like growing,
stable or declining.
 The population size is more technically called as population density.
 Methods for measurement of population density:
 Counting the number
 Percent cover
 Biomass.
 Pug marks and fecal pellets for tiger census
• A population at any given time is composed of individuals of different
age group. As,
• Pre-reproductive, Reproductive and Post- reproductive.
• Age pyramid: If the age distribution is plotted for the population, the resulting
structure is called as age pyramid.
• For human population, the age pyramids show the age distribution of males and females
in a combined diagram.
Population growth:
 The size of the population changes depending on food availability,
predation pressure and reduce weather.
 Population size fluctuated due to changes in four basic processes, two of
which (Natality and immigration) contribute an increase in population
density and two (mortality and emigration) to a decrease.
 Natality: number of birth in given period in the population.
 Mortality: number of deaths in the population in a given period of
time.
 Immigration: is the number of individuals of same species that have
come into the habitat from elsewhere during a given period of time.
 Emigration: number of individuals of the population who left the
habitat and gone elsewhere during a given time period.
 If ‘N’ is the population density at time ‘t’, then its density at ti
me t + 1 is :
• Population Growth Models:
• There are two models of population growth:
• Exponential Growth Model: When the resources
availability is unlimited in the habitat, the population
grows in an exponential or geometric fashion,
• The equation is: dN/dt= (b-d)*N
• Let (b-d)= r,
• then the equation is,
• dN/dt= rN
• N=population density at time
• r= intrinsic rate of natural increas e
• When a population shows exponential growth, the
curve plotted with N in relation to time assume J shape.
Exponential growth
 The Exponential growth equation is Nt = N0ert
 Nt = Population density after time t
 N0 = Population density at time zero
 r = intrinsic rate of natural increase
 e = the base of natural logarithms (2.71828)
Exponential growth (‘J’ shape curve is obtained).
When resources are not limiting the growth.
Any species growth exponentially under unlimited res

ources conditions can reach
enormous population densities in a short time.
Growth is not so realistic.

 Logistic growth model
VerhulstPearl Logistic Growth is described by the following equations
dN/dt = rN (K–N / K)
 Where N = Population density at time t

 r = Intrinsic rate of natural increase
 K = Carrying capacity
Logistic Growth (Sigmoid curve is obtained)
 When resourses are limiting the Growth.
 Resources for growth for most animal populations are finite and become
limiting.
 The logistic growth model is a more realistic one.
POPULATION INTERACTIONS:
 Predation:
 Organism of higher trophic level (predator) feeds on organism of
lower trophic level (prey) is called the predation.
 Even the herbivores are not very different from predator.
 Predator acts as a passage for transfer of energy across trophic
level.
 Predators keep prey populations under control.
 Exotic species have no natural predator hence they grow very rapidly.
(prickly pear cactus introduced in Australiacreated problem)
 Predators also help in maintaining species diversity in a community,
by reducing the intensity of competition among competing prey
species. (Pisaster starfish field experiment)
• Sometimes predators are used as biological control for
pests.
• Example:
• The Ladybird are useful to control aphids and
Dragonflies for mosquitoes.
Defense developed by prey against predators:
 Animals:
• Prey species have evolved various defence mechanisms to reduce
the impact of predation.
• Example:
• Certain insect species and frogs have camouflage (Cryptic coloration)
• Some are poisonous and therefore avoided by the predators.
 Monarch butterfly is highly distasteful to its predator (bird) due
to presence of special chemical it its body.The chemical acquired by
feeding a poisonous weed during caterpillar stage.
 Plants:
• Herbivores are the predators for plants.

• The problem of predation is more severe for plants than animals as they
cannot move.
• About 25% of the known insects are the Phytophagus
and feed on the plant sap.
 Thorns in Acacia, Cactus are morphological means ofdefense.
 Many plants produce and store some chemical which make the
herbivore sick if eaten, inhibit feeding, digestion disrupt
reproduction, even kill the predators.
 Calotropis produces poisonous cardiac glycosides
against herbivores.
 Nicotine, caffeine, quinine, strychnine, opium etc.
are produced by plant
actually as defenses against the grazers and browsers
Competition
 Competition is an interaction among the individuals of
same species (Intraspecific ) or between individuals of
different species (Interspecific).
 Interspecific competition is a potent force in organic evolution.
 Competition generally occurs when closely related species
compete for the same resources that are limiting, but this not
entirely true:
 Firstly: totally unrelated species could also compete for the same
resources.
 American lakes visiting flamingoes and resident fishes have their
common food, zooplanktons.

 Secondly: resources need not be limiting for competition to
occur.
 Abingdon tortoise in Galapagos Islands became extinct within a
decade after goats were introduced on the island, due to greater
browsing ability.
• Unrelated species also compete for same resources.
• Ex:- flamingo & fish compete for zooplankton
 Competitive release: A species,whose distribution is restricted to
a small geographical area because of the presence of a competitively
superior species, is found to expand its distributional range
dramatically when the competing species is experimentally removed.
 Connell’s elegant field experiment showed that superior
barnacle Balanus dominates the intertidal area and excludes the smaller
barnacle Chathamalus from that zone.

 Gause’s ‘competitive Exclusion Principle’: two closely related
species competing for the same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely
and the competitively inferior will be eliminated eventually.
 .
 Resource partitioning: If two species compete for the same resource,
they could avoid competition by choosing, for instance, different times for
feeding or different foraging pattern.
 MacArthur showed five closely related species of warblers living on the same
tree were able to avoid competition and co-exist due to behavioral differences in
their foraging activities
Parasitism
• Parasitism is the interspecific interaction where one of the species
(Parasite) depends the other species (Host)for food and shelter.
• Host gets harmed and parasite gets benefitted.
• Parasites are host-specific and parasite and its host tend to co-
evolve.
• Co-evolve: It means that if the host evolves a special mechanism to
reject or resist the parasite, the parasite has to evolve the mechanisms
to neutralize them.
 Parasitic adaptation
 Loss of unnecessary sense organs.
 Presence of adhesive organs or suckers to cling on to the host.
 Loss of digestive system.
 High reproductive capacity
 Parasites having one or more intermediate host or vectors to facilitate
parasitisation of its primary host.
 Liver fluke has two intermediate hosts (snail and a fish) to complete its
live cycle.
• Some parasites have complex life cycle and generally
have one or two intermediate host.
• Intermediate hosts act as vectors which facilitates
parasitisation of host.
• Human liver fluke has two intermediate hosts: a snail
and a fish
• Malaria Parasite has one intermediate host (mosquito)
to spread to other host.
 Effects on the host:
 Parasite always harms the host.
 They reduce the survival, growth and reproduction of the host.
 Reduce its population density.
 They make the host more vulnerable to the predators, by making it physically weak.
 Ectoparasite: feeds on the external surface of the host.

 Lice on human
 Ticks on dog
 Marine fish infested with copepods
• Cuscutaa parasitic plant grow on hedge plants. It lost its chlorophyll and leaves during evolution.
• It gets its nutrition from the host plants by haustoria
 Endoparasites: are those that live inside the host body at different sites.
 Life cycle is more complex.
 Morphological and anatomical features are greatly simplified.
 Highly developed reproductive system.
 Brood parasitism:
 Special type of parasitism found in birds.
 The parasitic birds lay its eggs in the nest of its host and let the host incubate them.
 The egg of the host is very similar with the egg of the host.
 Cuckoo lays eggs in the nest of the crow.

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POPULATION:

Exponential growth (‘J’ shape curve is obtained).

When resources are not limiting the growth.

Any species growth exponentially under unlimited res

Growth is not so realistic.

VerhulstPearl Logistic Growth is described by the following equations

 Where N = Population density at time t

• Herbivores are the predators for plants.

 Ectoparasite: feeds on the external surface of the host.

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