Chapter 53: Population Ecology

Concept 53.1: Biotic and abiotic factors affect population density, dispersion, and demographics
 Population ecology: the study of populations in relation to their environment. Explores how
biotic and abiotic factors influence the abundance, dispersion, and age structure of populations.
o Ex. Investigating how factors such as predators and light affect the size of a loggerhead
turtle population
 Population: group of individuals of a single species living in the same general area.
o Members of a population rely on the same resources, are influenced by similar
environmental factors, and are likely to interact and breed w/ one another.
Density and Dispersion
 Density: density of a population is the number of individuals per unit area or volume
o Ex: The number of oak trees per square kilometer in the Minnesota county or the
number of Escherichia coli bacteria per milliliter in a test tube.
 Dispersion: is the pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population.
Density: a Dynamic Perspective
 Ecologists use various sampling techniques to estimate densities and total population sizes.
o Counting random populations such as oak trees in several randomly located 100x100 m
plots, calculated the average density per plots, then extend estimate of population size
to entire area.
o Such estimate is most accurate when many sample plots are used and when the habitat
is fairly homogeneous.
o Other ways are to count the number of nests, burrows, tracks, or fecal droppings.
 Mark-recapture method: capture random sample of individuals in a population (s), tag or mark
them and release them. After marked individuals are given time to mix again, a second sampling
is done (n), and note how many are marked (x). population size (N) is estimated by N=(s*n)/x
 Density changes as individuals move to or from a population.
o Additions occur through birth and immigration. Death and emigration remove
individuals from a population.
 Immigration: the influx of new individuals from other areas.
 Emigration: the movement of individuals out of a population and into other locations.
Patterns of Dispersion
 Clumped: the most common pattern of dispersion, in which individuals are aggregated in
patches.
o Ex. Plants and fungi are often clumped where soil conditions and other environmental
factors favor germination and growth.
o Mushrooms, may be clumped within and on top of a rotting log.
o Insects and salamanders may be clumped under the same log because of the higher
humidity there.
o Clumping of animals may also be associated with mating behavior.
 Ex. Sea stars group together in tide pools, where food is readily available and
where they can breed successfully.
o Clumping may also increase the effectiveness of predation or defense.
 EX. A wolf pack is more successful than a single wolf. A flock of birds can better
warn of a potential attack than a single bird.
 Uniform: evenly spaced pattern dispersion may result from direct interactions between
individuals in the population.
  Territoriality: the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other
individuals.
o Plants secrete chemicals that inhibit the germination and growth of nearby individuals
that could compete for resources.
 Random dispersion: (unpredictable spacing), the position of each individual in a population is
independent of other individuals.
o Pattern occurs in absence of strong attractions or repulsions among individuals or where
key physical or chemical factors are relatively constant across the study area.
 Ex. Plants established by windblown seeds- dandelions.
Demographics
 Biotic and abiotic factors influence birth, death, and migration rates of populations.
 Demography: the study of these vital statistics of populations and how they change over time.
Life Tables
 Life table: summarizes the survival and reproductive rates of individuals in specific age-groups
within a population.
 Cohort: method of constructing a life table where a group of individuals of the same age, from
birth until all of the individuals are dead.
 This table also requires determining the proportion of the cohort that survives from one age-
group to the next.
 It is also necessary to keep track of the number of offspring produced by females in each age-
group.
 Males are often ignored because only females produce offspring.
 Using this approach, a population is viewed in terms of females giving rise to new females.
Survivorship curves
 Survivorship curve: a graphic way of representing the data in a life table, a plot of the proportion
or numbers in a cohort still alive at each age.
o Type I: Low death rates during early and middle life and an increase in death rates
among older age groups.
 Ex. Elephants, humans, large mammals. Have few offspring but provide good
quality care
o Type II: A constant death rate over the organism’s life span.
 Ex. Rodents, squirrels, invertebrates, lizards, and annual plants.
o Type III: high death rates for the young, but flattens out as death rates decline for those
few individuals that survive the early period of die-off.
 Usually associated with organisms that produce very large numbers of offspring
but provide little or no care—many marine life species, plants, oysters.
o Many species fall in between these types of curves or show more complex patterns.
 Ex. Birds, mortality is often high among the youngest, but fairly constant among
adults. some invertebrates like crabs show a “stair stepped” curve, followed by
periods of lower mortality during molts, followed by periods of lower mortality
when their protective exoskeleton is hard.
Reproductive Rates
 Demographers view populations in terms of females giving rise to new females.
o Reproductive output for sexual organisms is measured as the average number of female
offspring produced by the females in an age group
 The simplest way to describe the reproductive pattern of a population is to identify how
reproductive output varies with the number of breeding females and their ages.
  Age-specific reproductive rates vary considerably by species
Concept 53.2: The exponential model describes population growth in an idealized, unlimited
environment
 Ecologists often study population growth in ideal, unlimited conditions to reveal how fast
populations are capable of growing and the conditions under which rapid growth may actually
occur.
 Idealized situations help us understand the capacity of species to increase and the conditions
that may facilitate this growth
Changes in Population Size
 Formula to define a change in population size during a fixed time interval:
o Change in population size = Births + immigrants entering population – Deaths -
Emigrants leaving population
o Ignoring immigration and emigration, the change in population size equals births minus
deaths
o Population growth rate formula—change in population (N)/ change in time (t)= B
(number of birth rates in population during time interval) – D (number of deaths)
o Population growth rate formula—change in population (N)/ change in time (t)= R
(difference between B and D that occur in time interval)
 Therefore, R= B-D