Ecology Flashcards
What is a population?
A group of living things that are the same species that live in the same environment/habitat.
What 4 things characterize a population?
- Size (#/group of species)
- Growth over time
- Density
- Distribution
What’s distribution?
Ask yourself this question: are they all packed together in one spot? Or are they all over the place?
What’s population size?
The total number of individuals in a population.
What 3 things can a population do?
Increase, decrease, or remain the same.
What 4 factors affect the population size?
- Natality (birth)
- Mortality (death)
- Immigration (arrival)=In->I
- Emigration (departure)=Exit->E
What will increase population growth?
Immigration and natality
What will decrease population growth?
Mortality and Emigration
What will make the population remain the same?
If the 4 factors, (immigration, emigration, etc) are all equal.
Why does a population size change over time?
Whenever there’s more predators, theres less prey because the predators are eating the prey. But then theres no more food so the predators start to die from hunger. So now theres less predators and more prey.
What’s the ratio between prey and predator?
10%->Predator & 90%->Prey
What’s carrying capacity?
If there’s a higher carrying capacity that means there are scarce/limited resources in an area so there’s less for a population.
What’s the carrying capacity of an area?
It’s the maximum number of individuals that can be supported.
Name 4 characteristics of biological cycles.
- Frequency of reproduction
- Age of mortality
- Reproductive maturity
- Number of offspring
How can the characteristics of biological cycles vary?
They’ll vary by species