Chapter 52- Population Ecology Flashcards
Population
A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time.
Population Ecology
The study of how and why the number of individuals in a population changes over time.
Immigration
When individuals enter a population by moving from another population.
Emigration
When individuals leave a population to join another population.
Demography
The study of factors that determine the size and structure of populations through time.
Generation
The average time between a mother’s first offspring and her daughter’s first offspring.
Life Table
Summarizes the probability that an individual will survive and reproduce in any given time interval over the course of its lifetime.
Survivorship
The proportion of offspring produced that survive, on average, to a particular age.
Cohort
A group of the same age that can be followed through time.
Survivorship Curve
The graph of a function/pattern of survivorship in a population.
Fecundity
The number of female offspring produced by each female in a population.
Age specific Fecundity
The average number of female offspring produced in age class x.
Age Class
A group of individuals of a specific age.
Fitness Trade-offs
Compromise between activities and traits that increase fitness or survival depending on how much energy required versus how much the organism has to use.
Life history
How an organism allocates resources to growth, reproduction, and activities or structures that are related to survival.
Intrinsic Rate of Increase
When birth rates are as high as possible and death rates per individual are as low as possible in a species.
Exponential Population Growth
When growth rate, r, does not change for a population over time.
Density Independent
Does not depend on the number of individuals in a population
Population Density
The number of individuals per unit area
Density Dependent
Dependent on the number of individuals in a population.
Carrying Capacity
The maximum number of individuals in a population that can be supported in a particular habitat over a sustained period of time.
Logistic Population Growth
Changes in growth rate that occur as a function of population size.
Finite Rate Increase
An observed growth rate over a period of time.
Density Independent Factors
Alter birth rates and death rates irrespective of the number of individuals in the population and usually involve changes in the abiotic environment.
