chapter 13 Flashcards
All populations experience fluctuations due to
availability of resources, predation, competition, disease, parasites, and climate.
what allows larger organisms to maintain homeostasis in the face of unfavorable environmental changes.
Larger organisms have a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio
What can the age structure of a population tell us about pop. fluctuations over time?
It can show times of particular growth or decline in previous years.
When an age group contains a high or low number of individuals, the population likely experienced
high birth or death rates in the past.
when a population grows beyond its carrying capacity; often occurs when the carrying capacity of a habitat decreases from one year to next (e.g., because less resources are produced).
Overshoot
a substantial decline in density that typically goes well below the carrying capacity.
Die-off
regular oscillation of a population over a longer period of time.
Population cycles
Cyclic populations can occur among
related species and across large geographic areas
Populations are stable at their
carrying capacity
Why are some pops. inherently cyclical?
There is a delay between the time of breeding and the birth of offspring.
when density dependence occurs based on a population density at some time in the past.
Delayed density dependence
r =
intrinsic growth rate
N =
current population size at time t
K =
carrying capacity
dn
____=
dt
rate of change in population size