Population Biology

Unit 11

What is a population?
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at the same time Individuals interact with one another and with other populations

Populations
Size Growth Structure of populations

POPULATION GROWTH
Nearly all populations will tend to grow exponentially as long as there are resources available. Two of the most basic factors that affect the rate of population growth are the birth rate, and the death rate. r(rate of growth)=birth rate death rate

Biotic Potential
Exponential growth
population size is growing by a fixed rate of increase

Populations can not exhibit exponential growth for extended periods of time
600

500

400

300

200

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Generation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Size 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512

Generation or time

POPULATION GROWTH
Exponential growth curve: population growth plotted against time. As a population gets larger, it also grows at a faster rate. This is the maximum population growth under ideal circumstances. Maximum population size under ideal conditions (food, water, space, no predators)

FACT: No population exhibits this type of growth for long.

Biotic Potential
Constant death rates do not alter the exponential growth of the population Exponential growth is not realistic, it assumes that every individual is immortal
Exercise 1: Exponential growth

Population Growth
Limiting Factors - Any factor which, by its absence or reduced supply, will limit an ecological process (food, nesting sites, shelter). An excess of a limiting factor would promote exponential growth Carrying Capacity (K)- The maximum number of individuals that can be sustained in a particular environment

PREDICTING POPULATION GROWTH

Logistic model: This model accounts for the declining resources available to populations as they grow. It assumes the birth and death rates are not constant. As the population grows, births decline and death rises. Eventually birth=death so the population stops growing. Carrying capacity (K): The number of organisms of one species that an environment can support indefinitely.

Logistic growth -population initially exhibits exponential growth but levels off when limiting factors encountered -leveling-off occurs at carrying capacity (K) -S-shaped curve

Exercise 2: Corn seed organisms

Generation Number at Number after Loss due to Num at start Number start reproduction env resistance of next gen

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6 12 12 10 12 16 24 12 14 14

12 24 24 20 24 32 48 24 28 28

0 12 12 14 8 8 36 10 14 16

12 12 12 6 16 24 12 14 14 12

30

25

20

Number at start of generation

15

10

0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Generation number

Environmental Resistance - occurs when limiting factors inhibit the increase in population size and prevent a population from realizing its biotic potential

Graph for exercise 2

POPULATION GROWTH
Two models of population growth.

The Exponential curve (also known as a Jcurve) occurs when there is no limit to population size.

The Logistic curve (also known as an S-curve) shows the effect of a limiting factor (in this case the carrying capacity of the environment).

Demography
the statistical study of populations. It is used to predict how the size of a population will change

Survivorship Curves
Survivorship curves tell us how long individuals survive in a population at any specific age Populations have a characteristic pattern of survivorship over time Three basic types of survivorship curves

Parental care, e.g., Humans

Lizards, some jellyfish, some birds

No parental care, e.g., insects and fish

Age structure of populations

The most important demographic characteristic of a population is its age structure Population Pyramids are graphs that show the age distribution found in a population

Population Age Structure

Differences in environmental conditions and past history may cause populations to differ in their age distributions. The future growth of a population depends on its current age distribution.

Growing

Stable

Life Tables
(age-specific summary of the survival pattern of a population)
l = survivorship (%) to next age class b = fecundity of females in that age class
(Fecundity is the average number of female offspring produced by each female in the population)

l*b = age-specific fecundity

female in her life time)

(average number of female offspring produced by a

R = Net Reproductive Rate (R>1 growing, R<1 declining); this is calculated as the sum of the l*b values from the table Example: Ground squirrel (Spermophilus armatus) Age class
0-1 yrs 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6

l
0.332 0.142 0.061 0.026 0.011 0

b
1.29 2.08 2.08 2.08 2.08 0

l*b
0.428 0.295 0.127 0.054 0.023 0

R= 0.927

Population growth is affected by: mortality (ex 1) space/resources (ex 2) survival (ex 3 & 4) reproduction & age (ex 5) + many other factors

Sample Test Items

Sample Test Items

Sample Test Items