Species Dispersal

Fossil Evidence for Dispersal

Example: lake sediments

How do Species Disperse?

Natal: movement of young from their birthplace prior to reproducing Breeding: movement of reproductively mature adults Environment as a Vector o Water-assisted dispersal o Air-assisted dispersal o Tumbleweed: whole plant dispersal Animal-assisted dispersal o Hitchhikers o Nutrient source o Parasites use humans as habitat and as dispersal vectors Jump Dispersal: long distance, across hostile environments o Zebra mussels Diffusion Dispersal: gradual expansion into adjacent, hospitable habitat over generations

Populations Have Unique Properties

Size = number of individuals (abundance) Geographic distribution = area in which individuals occur Growth = increase or decrease in size of population

Spatial Patterns of Distribution

How do you get a clumped distribution? o Young individuals remain close to their birthplace o When resources are only available in patches or islands

How o o How o

do you get an evenly spaced distribution? Plants: competition for light, water, and nutrients Animals: defense of space (territory) do you get a randomly spaced distribution? The result of many factors interacting to influence where individuals settle and survive

Population Density
Size (N): # of individuals Density: #/area or #/volume o Mice: 0.025/m2 o Ladybird Beetles (ladybugs): 50/m2 o Diatoms: 5,000,000/m2 o Population Dynamics Birth Immigration

Nt+1

Nt
Death Emigration

Nt+1

Population size (Nt + 1) = Nt + B D + I E

Carrying Capacity
Carrying capacity: the maximum population of a given organism, which a particular environment can sustain What is carrying capacity limited by?

o o o o o

Resources (food and water) Habitat or space Tolerance to climate Tolerance to toxic substances Competition

African Honey Bee

Introduced in 1956 Spreading 110km/year Aggressive Hybridizing What will limit its expanding range? o Perhaps climate

Population Regulation
Density Dependence
Regulation of a population by change sin per capita birth or death rates in response to density is said to be density-dependent Examples of density dependence: o Depletion of food supply that accompanies growth o Attraction of predators by high density prey o Increased infection by disease with higher density

Density Independence
If per capita birth and death rates are unrelated to population density Examples of density independence: o A rare extreme event (an early hard freeze, a tornado, flood, landslide) Density independent factors can intensify density dependent regulators o A hard freeze diminishes the supply of food or prey

Can Humans Manage Populations?

Yes; by regulating density dependent factors: o Limiting food supply, disease, or prey abundance Examples: o Biological control of pest species (predators) o Habitat removal for mosquitoes (food supply)

Why Not Regulate Density Independent Factors?

Regulating density independent factors is not effective because it simply allows the population to grow at the highest rate

Human Growth Rate