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Chapter 26

Population size changes due to natural increases from births and deaths, as well as net migration. Factors such as biotic potential and environmental resistance regulate population growth, with exponential growth occurring under ideal conditions and logistic growth stabilizing at carrying capacity. Spatial and age distributions of populations are influenced by behavioral characteristics and environmental factors, with different types of distributions and survivorship curves illustrating these dynamics.

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Luciana Chacón Madrigal
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7 views4 pages

Chapter 26

Population size changes due to natural increases from births and deaths, as well as net migration. Factors such as biotic potential and environmental resistance regulate population growth, with exponential growth occurring under ideal conditions and logistic growth stabilizing at carrying capacity. Spatial and age distributions of populations are influenced by behavioral characteristics and environmental factors, with different types of distributions and survivorship curves illustrating these dynamics.

Uploaded by

Luciana Chacón Madrigal
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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How does population size change:

-A population consists of all the members of a particular species that live within an ecosystem (all the
living and nonliving components)
-Community: a group of interacting populations, they exist within ecosystems
-Biosphere: enormous ecosystem that includes all of Earth´s habitable surface
-Ecology: study of the interrelationships of organisms with each other and with their nonliving
environment

Changes in population size result form natural increases and net migration:
-population size changes through: births, deaths, and net migration
-natural increase: difference between births and deaths
-net migration: difference between immigration (into the population) and emigration (out of the
population)
-change in population = natural increase + net migration
-reproduction + emigration can help keep the original population size (usually young species emigrate)

-growth rate: the percentage change in the population size in time


-growth rate = birth rate – death rate (same as natural increase)
-population growth: the number of individuals added to a population in a given time interval
-population growth (G) = growth rate x population size (N)
-the growth rate of a population predicts its future size only if environmental conditions remain constant

-exponential growth: even larger number is added to a population during a time period (happens when
each individual of the population produces more than 1 offspring that survives to reproduce)
-J-curve: used to graph an exponentially growing population
-by postponing reproduction population growth is slowed down

Biotic Potential determines the maximum rate at which a population can grow:
-Biotic potential: the maximum rate at which a population can increase
-calculations of biotic potential assume ideal conditions (unlimited resources and no predators) that allow
a maximum birth rate and a minimum death rate
-factors that affect it: age at which an organism first reproduces, frequency of reproduction, average
number of offsprings, length of the reproductive life span, death rate under ideal conditions

How is population growth regulated:


-population size = interaction between biotic potential and environmental resistance
-environmental resistance: all the curbs on population growth imposed by the living and nonliving
environment (ex. Predation, competition, natural events)

Exponential growth occurs only under unusual conditions:


-boom and bust cycles: rapid population growth followed by a sudden die off
-boom and bust cycles occur normally on short-lived, rapidly reproducing species (climate and seasons
can affect the reproduction season and cycle)
-in populations that do not undergo boom and bust, exponential growth may occur temporarily under
special circumstances (predation is reduced, food supply or habitat is increased)
-invasive species: organisms with high biotic potential that are introduced into ecosystems where they did
not evolve and that find little environmental resistance

Environmental resistance limits population growth:


-environmental resistance creates a balance between the size of a population and the resources available
to support it
-logistic population growth: populations that increase up to the maximum number that their environment
can sustain and then stabilize
-carrying capacity (K): the maximum population size that can be sustained by an ecosystem for an
extended period of time without damage to the environment
-S-curve: occurs when logistic growth is graphed
-an increase in population size above carrying capacity can be sustained for a short time (population
above carrying capacity is living at the expense of resources that cannot regenerate as fast as they are
being depleted)
-overshoot in carrying capacity = decrease in carrying capacity and decrease in population size (N) until
the original K is restored
-extreme overshoot in carrying capacity: destruction of essential resources that might not recover,
decrease in populations
-during logistic population growth: as environmental resistance increases, population growth slows and
stops at approximately the carrying capacity of the environment
-2 forms of environmental resistance: density independent and density dependent
-density-independent: limit population size regardless of the population density
-density-dependent: increase in effectiveness as the population density increases
-nutrients, energy, and space are the primary determinants of carrying capacity and are all density-
dependent factors
-Density-independent:
-habitat destruction by humans (biggest threat to wildlife)
-seasonal changes (animals adapt and evolve to survive or migrate)
-Density-dependent:
-predators: organisms that eat other organisms or preys (sometimes organism can be killed at the
moment or damaged)
-predators are density dependent because they feed more on prey populations that grow, more
effective as regulators if preys become more abundant
-population cycles: prey increases so predators increase, but then prey decreases and predators too
-predators might contribute to the overall health of prey populations (they eliminate the weak and
poorly adapted organisms)
-help maintain a healthy prey population and density that can be sustained by the resources of the
ecosystem

-parasite: feeds on a larger organism (host) and harms it


-some might kill the host or keep it alive to keep benefiting from them (tapeworms, ticks, disease-
causing microorganisms)
-most parasites cannot travel long distances so they spread more rapidly among hosts in dense
populations
-organisms weakened by parasites are less likely to reproduce, they are weakened and mor elikely
to die
-contribute to the death of less-fit individuals producing a regulation in the host population
-balance can be destroyed if parasites are introduced into regions in which their preys have no
defenses against them (no environmental resistance)

-competition: interaction among individuals who attempt to use the same limited resources
-2 major forms: interspecific (individuals from different species) and intraspecific (individuals of
the same species)
-scramble competition (intraspecific): free-for-all with resources as the prize, the ones that grab
the resources first win
-contest competition: social or chemical interactions determine access to resources (species
defend an area containing the resources needed, when the population exceeds the size only the
best-adapted are able to defend territory)
-density dependent and density independent interact to regulate the population size (a species might be
weakened by competition or a parasite but then be killed by a cold winter)

How are populations distributed:


-determined by behavioral characteristics and their environment
-Spatial distributions:
-spatial distribution: how individuals within a population are distributed within a given area
-3 types: crumpled, uniform, and random
-clumped distribution: populations whose members live in groups (elephants, wolves, lions, fish, birds)
-benefits: hunting in groups, many eyes to spot food, confusing predators, take advantage of
localized resources
-uniform distribution: maintain a relatively constant distance between individuals (territorial behaviors
that evolved to maintain their access to limited resources, more common during breeding seasons)
-ex. Even distribution of nests, spacing between plants so that their roots can grab the resources
-random distribution: individuals that do not form social groups (resources are equally available through
the area and are not scarce so positions isn’t important)
-ex. Trees and plants in a rainforest, no vertebrates have random distribution

-Age distributions:
-survivorship tables: tracks groups of organisms throughout their live to record how many survive
-survivorship curves: used to graph, 3 types (late loss, constant loss and early lost) according to the part in
the life cycle where deaths usually occur

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