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Population Ecology Definitions

▪ Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance
of organisms, the interaction among organisms, and the
interactions between organisms and their abiotic environment.
▪ Population is a group of individuals of a single species that
occupy the same general area at the same time.
▪ Species all the populations on earth willing to breed in nature &
able to have viable offspring

Scope of Ecology Organismal ecology is concerned with how an organism’s structure, physiology, and
behavior meet the challenges of the environment
Organismal ecology includes physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology
Example question: How do flamingos select a mate?
Population ecology analyzes factors affecting population size and why it changes over time
Example question: What environmental factors affect the reproductive rate of
flamingos?
Community ecology examines the affect of interspecific interactions on community
structure and organization
Example question: What factors influence the diversity of species that interact at an
African lake?
Ecosystem ecology emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and
the environment
Example question: What factors control photosynthetic productivity in an aquatic
ecosystem?
Landscape ecology focuses on the exchanges of energy, materials, and organisms across
multiple ecosystems
Example question: To what extent do nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems affect
organisms in a lake?
Global ecology examines how the exchange of energy and materials influences the function
and distribution of organisms across the biosphere
Example question: How do global patterns of air circulation affect the distribution of
organisms?

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Characteristics of Populations
▪ Size = N
▪ The mean number of individuals in a population.
▪ We use N to represent population size.
▪ Density
▪ The of individuals in a giving area or volume
Mark-Recapture
N= sn/x
For example: s = 4 (caught and mark the first time)
n= 10 (Total number of caught second time)
(2 previous caught)
x=2 (Number in 2nd capture already marked)
so, N=20
▪ Dispersion
▪ Is the pattern or spacing of individuals in an area.
▪ Demographics
▪ Looks at vital statistics and the changes overtime.

Growth depends on- Fig 53.1 B

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Characteristics of populations
Growth
▪ Change in population size
1. Growing- Doing well
2. Not growing- Not doing well
Depend on
1. Birth Rate
2. Death Rate
3. Growth Rate
▪ Population growth can be expressed as a rate.
▪ r (growth rate) = b (births) – d (deaths)
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Annual Per capita Birth Rate

Birth Rate Death rate
▪ Absolute Value = B ▪ Absolute Value = D
▪ B= (Number of individuals ▪ D= (Number of individuals
born/time) die/time)

▪ Rate =b ▪ Rate =d
▪ b= B/N (Number born per ▪ d= D/N (Number die per
giving time/Population giving time/Population
number) number)
▪ N= population size ▪ N= population size

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Rates
1. Birth Rate= b (per capita birth rate)
Absolute value = B and Birth Rate= b=B
N
2. Death or Mortality Rate = m (per capita)
Absolute value = D and Mortality Rate= m=D
N
EX. N= B= b=
D= m=
3. Growth Rate (per capital change in the time period) = r = b-m

Change in Population Size

▪ The change in population size

▪ If r is – then the population is decreasing N
= rt N
▪ If r is + then the population is increasing t

Δ𝑁
▪ Population size at the end of the time period: = 𝑁 + (𝑟Δ𝑡 𝑁)
Δ𝑡

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Types of Growth – Exponential (J Shaped Curve)

▪ Maximum growth
▪ No environmental pressures
▪ Food, space and mates
▪ Found in organism introduced to
an area they were never in before
or rebounding populations (
population decimated and growing
again)
▪ Population growth type
▪ Exponential growth (J-shape)
▪ Main assumption = resources
stay abundant regardless of N dN
= rN
dt

Example – bacteria

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Type of Growth - Logistic – S-shape curve

▪ Logistic population growth occurs when the growth rate decreases as the population size approaches
carrying capacity.
▪ Where a population tends to stabilize
(so b=d)
▪ S-shape
▪ Carrying capacity (K)
▪ Maximum number of individuals an environment can hold
▪ Limiting resources
▪ Energy, shelter, refuge, nutrients and water
▪ Assumptions
▪ Immediate adjustment happens at K
▪ Every individual added has the same negative effect on the population
▪ Predict
▪ The time for recovery of small populations
▪ Estimate sustainable harvest rates and minimum size a population needs to keep from being at risk for extinction.

Example graph – Fig 53.9

A change in population size as N

increases:
Exponential Reduce
growth growth as N-K

dN
= rN
(K – N )
dt K
Fraction of K
still available

▪ As N – K, r – 0
▪ When N small compared to K, r is closer to 1 (large growth rate).
▪ When N is large compared to K, r is closer to 0 (smaller growth rate)
▪ When N=K, r=0 No growth

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Factors that Influence Population Size – Figure 53.17

▪ Density = The number of individuals per unit area
or volume.
▪ Density independent
▪ are population-limiting factors whose intensity is
unrelated to population density (Weather and
temperature)
▪ Include abiotic factors such as
▪ fires, floods, and storms.
▪ Density-dependent factors
▪ are limiting factors whose intensity is related to
population density and
▪ can limit growth in natural populations.
▪ Predation, toxic wasted, intrinsic (internal ex. Aggression)
▪ Intraspecific competition, territoriality, disease, symbiosis

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Fluctuations in Population Size (Population

Dynamics)
1. Stability and Fluctuation
▪ Large mammals
2. Population cycles
▪ Boom and Bust cycle
▪ Predation and prey driven
▪ For example, snowshoe hares and lynx both
follow roughly 10-year population cycles in the
forests of northern Canada and Alaska

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Dispersion
▪ Dispersion is the pattern of spacing among individuals within
the boundaries of the population
▪ The pattern of dispersion is determined by the spacing among
individuals within the boundaries of a population
▪ Differences in spacing can provide insight into the biotic and
abiotic factors affecting individuals
▪ Based on environmental conditions & social interaction,
1. Clumped
2. Uniform
3. Random

Clumped 53.4 ed 10 – Fig. 53.3 edition 12

▪ The most common pattern of dispersion is
clumped, in which individuals aggregate in
patches
▪ Individuals may aggregate in areas of high
resource availability or favorable physical
conditions
▪ Mating behavior and group predation or
defense against predators can also influence
clumped dispersions
▪ Examples: elephant herds, wolf packs, lion
prides, flock of birds or school of fish.
▪ Advantages of clumping
▪ Many eyes can search for localized food
▪ Minimize predation risk
▪ Increased chances of finding a mate

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Uniform – evenly spaced - Figure 53.3

▪A uniform dispersion is one in which

individuals are evenly spaced
▪Some plants secrete chemicals that inhibit
germination and growth of competing
individuals
▪Animals often exhibit territoriality, the
defense of a bounded physical space
against other individuals

Random - Figure 53.3

▪ In a random dispersion
(unpredictable spacing), the
position of each individual is
independent of other individuals
▪ It occurs in the absence of strong
attractions or repulsions among
individuals or constant distribution
of key physical or chemical factors
across the habitat

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Demographics
Demography
▪ Statistics that describe a
population, such as its size,
density, and distribution.
▪ Life Table and Cohort (groups
of individuals, same age (birth
to death)
▪ Figure 53.1 – Life Table
Female Belding’s Ground
Squirrels

Types of Survivorship curves – Figure 53.5 Plots number in

cohort still alive
at each stage/age
High survival rate
Low death rate

Low survival rate

High death rate
Low survival rate
High death rate

High survival rate

Low death rate

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Life Histories – Evolution & Life History Diversity

Reproductive Strategies – Figure 53.12
▪ Life history of an organism requires understanding both the reproductive strategies
and the survival strategies employed.
▪ There are trade-offs between reproduction and survival due to selective pressures, in
other words there are not unlimited resources.
▪ There are three key parts to a life history’s reproductive strategies, and all can vary
widely between species:
1. When reproduction begins.
2. How often the individuals typically reproduce
3. The average number of offspring produced each time.

Life Histories – Evolution & Life History Diversity

Reproductive Strategies – Figure 53.12
▪ Two extreme evolutionary reproductive
strategies are semelparity and iteroparity.
▪ Semelparity
▪ there tends to be a low survival rate, often of both
offspring and adult, so what we see is that adults are
more likely to contribute genes to the next generation
if they produce in large numbers but then they
typically die after the first time they reproduce.
▪ Examples are Agave and salmon.
▪ Iteroparity
▪ strategy where there is repeated reproduction
throughout their life. This may be more favorable in
dependable environments. Most organisms tend to be
between the two, meaning they have longer lives, but
produce a lot of offspring.

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Trade-offs & Life Histories Survival Strategies

▪ k-selected
▪ They select for traits/adaptations that favor a high density, think
carrying capacity.
▪ Strong competitors, focus on a few offspring but have high parental
investment in the offspring.
▪ We tend to see this in stable environments where the organism have
few offspring each time but they are “expensive” and take a lot of
energy.
▪ For example, primates and elephants.

Trade-offs & Life Histories Survival Strategies

▪ r-selection
▪ that focuses on traits/adaptations that maximize reproductive success at
low density or uncrowded environments where there is little
competition.
▪ Have many offspring that they spread the investment across. Often
found in unstable environments, organisms tend to make many, “cheap”
offspring that do not take a lot of parental investment.
▪ For example, insects and rodents.
▪ In general, parental investment in offspring tends to be inversely related
to the number and quality of offspring.

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Global Carrying Capacity

▪ Carrying capacity of Earth for humans is uncertain

▪ Global population is about 7.6 billion and predicted to be 9.8 billion by 2050

▪ The estimates can be from 1 billion to 1000 billion.

▪ Maintain Population Stability

▪ High birth rate and high death rate

▪ Low birth rate and low death rate

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