Ch. 56 Population Ecology

Question 1

number of organisms of a given species in a given unit area or volume

Answer 1

Population Density

Question 2

a square framed sampling device used to obtain a density estimate per square meter

Answer 2

Quadrat

Question 3

long piece of string is stretched our and any tree along its length is counted

Answer 3

Line Transect

Question 4

capture animals and then tag and release them

Answer 4

Mark-recapture technique

Question 5

clustered together or spread out to varying degrees

Answer 5

Dispersion

Question 6

most common form of disperson

Answer 6

Clumped

Question 7

single reproductive event; organisms reproduce once and die

Answer 7

Semelparity

Question 8

groups of same-aged young that grow at similar rates

Answer 8

Cohorts

Question 9

reproduce in successive years or breeding seasons

Answer 9

Iteroparity

Question 10

study of birth rates, death rates, age distributions and the sizes of populations

Answer 10

Demography

Question 11

a table that provides data on the number of living individuals in various age classes in a population and their relative fertilities

Answer 11

Life Table

Question 12

graphical plot of the number of surviving individuals for each age class in a population

Answer 12

Survivorship Curve

Question 13

rate loss of juveniles is low, increasing age leads to increasing losses

Answer 13

Type I

Question 14

uniform death rate

Answer 14

Type II

Question 15

increased amount of loss in juveniles, survivorship curve flattens out after juvenile phase

Answer 15

Type III

Question 16

examine rates of change with time; makes it easier to plot a wide range of population sizes

Answer 16

Log Scale

Question 17

when r = 0, population at equilibrium

Answer 17

Zero Population Growth

Question 18

if conditions are optimal for population growth, r is at its maximum

Answer 18

Intrinsic Rate of Increase

Question 19

upper boundary for the population size in a given environment

Answer 19

Carrying Capacity

Question 20

mortality factor whose influence increases with the density of the population

Answer 20

Density-Dependent Factor

Question 21

a mortality factor whose influence is not affected by changes in population size or density

Answer 21

Density-Independent Factor

Question 22

a mortality factor whose influence decreases with increasing population size

Answer 22

Inverse Density-Dependent Factor

Question 23

examines the spatial arrangement of suitable habitats for various populations, which, in turn, can influence overall population densities

Answer 23

Landscape Ecology

Question 24

a series of small, separate populations in individual habitat patches that mutually affect one another

Answer 24

Metapopulation

Question 25

species that have a high rate of per capita population growth (r) but poor competitive ability

Answer 25

R-Selected Species

Question 26

species whose populations are relatively stable and often exist at or near the carrying capacity (K) of the environment

Answer 26

K-Selected Species

Question 27

proposes that organisms select food in terms of the nitrogen content of the tissue

Answer 27

Nitrogen-Limitation Hypothesis

Question 28

quantity and quality of plants may be limiting for the population sizes of all other species that rely on them

Answer 28

Bottom-Up

Question 29

predators control populations of their prey and their prey (herbivores) control plant populations

Answer 29

Top-Down

Question 30

part of the generational mortality that would not occur should the mortality factor in question be removed from the life system, after allowance is made for the action of subsequent mortality factors

Answer 30

Indispensable Mortality

Question 31

instead of adding additional mortality to the population (i.e., additive mortality), increases in predation result in compensatory declines in other causes of mortality

Answer 31

Compensatory Mortality

Question 32

adds additional mortality on top of existing mortality

Answer 32

Additive Mortality

Question 33

relative number of individuals of each defined age group

Answer 33

Age Structure

Question 34

average number of live births a woman has during her lifetime

Answer 34

Total Fertility Rate

Question 35

the amount of productive land needed to support a person

Answer 35

Ecological Foot Print