chapter 5 Flashcards
id: a group of individuals belonging to the same species living together in a particular place at a particular time
Population
why are populations studied in ecology?
1) because the individuals making them up use the same resources in a certain area;
2) affected by the same conditions in the area;
3) interact with other organisms in the same way
4) population studies hold the key to saving endangered species and controlling pest populations and disease epidemics
id: (a characteristic of populations)
these are not present in the lower level of organization, individuals and may change from time to time
emergent properties
enum: (6)
emergent properties
1) population size
2) population density
3) age distribution
4) natality rate
5) mortality rate
6) population growth rate
enum: (4)
variables that affect population size
1) number of births
2) number of deaths
3) number of immigrants (joining the population)
4) number of emigrants (leaving the population)
id: refers to the numbers of individuals of the same species occupying a unit of area at a particular time
population density
Population density tends to be (lower, higher) in areas with plentiful resources than in areas with scarce resources.
higher
which is more useful, population size or population density? why?
population density - because it relates the number of individuals and the wastes they produce with the amount of resources available in a unit of area
id: the ability of a population to increase in size through reproduction whether by giving birth, budding or fission
natality
id: refers to the greatest number of new individuals that can be produced under ideal environmental conditions
maximum natality
id: refers to the number of new individuals produced under actual environmental conditions
realized natality
id: refers to the number of deaths in a population
mortality
id: it occurs when environmental conditions are ideal
minimum mortality
id: environmental conditions cause organisms to die earlier than their physiological longevity would allow
realized mortality
mortality varies with (health, age)
age
id: the survivorship data of a group of individuals in a population that were born more or less together
a cohort
how is a survivorship curve produced?
when the survivorship data of a group of individuals in a population that were born more or less together is plotted, with number surviving at the start of each age interval in the vertical axis and age on the horizontal axis
enum: (3)
kinds of survivorship curves
Type I (convex curve)
- survivorship is high (mortality rate is low)
- individuals are young, MR increases as they grow older
(mammals with few offsprings that are large
Type II
- MR is more or less the same regardless of age
(some lizards, hydras, mice and rabbits)
Type III (concave curve)
- individuals of the population die a the free-swimming larval stage due to predation
- once the larvae have attached to a substratum and secrete the shell, more individuals survive (MR decreases)
- type of curve is shown by species that do not provide parental care to their offspring
enum: (3)
age distribution pyramids
1) Expanding
- greater no. of young indivs
- expected to show rapid growth in the future
- undeveloped countries
2) Stable
- greater number of young indivs, but not much difference
- slow growth (40% of growth is due to immigration)
- developed countries
3) Collapsing
- greater number of older people than the young
- population size is declining (not enough replacement for the dead)
ToF: Population size influences natality and mortality rates of a population and, thus, also affects population growth rate.
No, age distribution does
A population with many young people entering the (reproductive, pre-reproductive) age is expected to increase in size in the future.
reproductive
enum: (3)
division of age distribution
1) pre-reproductive stage
2) reproductive stage
3) post-reproductive stage
ToF: The duration of these three stages varies with different organisms and with different cultures of peoples
true
____________ have a long pre-reproductive stage during metamorphosis, followed by a brief reproductive period, after which they die. Similarly, the _______________ lays eggs only once in its lifetime and immediately dies soon after, its energy having been spent in swimming upstream from the ocean and in releasing its eggs
insects; pink salmon
Population Growth Rate is Determined by an Organism’s Innate ________ to ____________ and by __________ Factors that __________ Population Growth
Capacity; Reproduce; Environmental; Prevent
how can number of births and deaths in a population be expressed?
as the average number of births and deaths per individual (per capita) during the time period
id: the number of offspring produced per unit time by an average member of the population
per capita birth rate (b)
id: per capita birth rate (by convention)
the number of births per 1000 individuals (by convention)
id: the number of deaths per 1000 individuals
per capita death rate (d)
id: the difference between the per capita birth rate and per capita death rate
per capita rate of increase
_____________ is also the population growth rate, expressed on a per capita basis
Per capita rate of increase
when the per capita rate of increase of a population is maximum (under favorable conditions, abundant resources and low population density, it is called _____________
biotic potential: intrinsic rate of increase (r) of the population
enum: (5)
factors influencing the intrinsic rate of increase (also called biotic potential) of a population
- these factors are innate to the species
1) Age at first reproductive episode
2) Frequency of reproduction
3) Number of individuals produced at each reproductive episode
4) Length of reproductive period
5) Survival up to and through reproductive age
The smaller the organism, the (lower, greater) is the per capita birth rate
greater
(Elephants, for example, reproduce once every 4 years and have only 1 offspring. Dogs have puppies yearly with a litter of 4-6 and chickens lay eggs several times a year. Bacteria have the highest biotic potential. E. coli, for example, divides into two every 20 minutes)
In the field where resources are limiting and conditions not always favorable due to disease and competition, e.g., the actual per capita rate of increase or realized r is (greater, lower) than rmax
lower
what causes the difference between r and rmax?
environmental resistance, the sum total of the conditions and resources that prevent rmax from being realized
id: the sum total of the conditions and resources that prevent rmax from being realized
environmental resistance
When environmental conditions are favorable, resources unlimited and the population density is low, populations tend to __________
increase rapidly
exponential growth produce a ____________ curve
j-shaped
Exponential population growth is characterized by an accelerating population growth that occurs when optimal conditions allow a constant ____________ growth rate
per capita
The unrestricted growth of populations in unlimited environments often lasts briefly only. It ends when the resources become ____________ to support the population, when an environmental condition _____________, like the coming of rain or snow, or when the ______________ season ends.
inadequate; changes; reproductive
The lack of resources or environmental change that occurs would (decrease, increase) per capita death rate and (decrease, increase) per capita birth rate of a population, thus, affecting r.
increase; decrease
what causes population to not increase exponentially indefinitely in nature? due to what?
the increase per capita death rate and decrease per capita birth rate of a population; lack of resources and environmental change
what is a boom and bust pattern of population change?
when a population size declines, then increases again from year to year
what kinds of plants and insects show a boom and bust population oscillation?
annual plants and insects
Exponential population growth may be very important to populations during the process of ______________ themselves and during the process of __________ from some sort of exploitation
- give an example
establishing; recovery;
explosive algal growth in an enriched body of water and rapid increase of whale populations once whaling was stopped
what happens when the number of organisms reached the population size that the resources in the environment can support for an indefinite period of time
population growth slows down
what is the other term for the slowing down of population growth? how does its growth curve look like when graphed?
logistic population growth; sigmoidal (S-shaped growth curve)