Lecture 14: Population structure.

Question 1

What is the relationship between Organism size and population density?

Answer 1

The larger the organism, the less dense the population.

Question 2

Snowshoe hares are well adapted to
cold environments that have snow in the winter
and bare or grassy ground in the summer. If we
were to measure the abundance of snowshoe
hares in Edmonton, this would best represent
their:

A. Density
B. Realized Density
C. Ecological Density
D. Fundamental Density

Answer 2

• Ecological Density

The number of Hares per unit of suitable habitat.

Question 3

Is the body size - density relationship true among all organisms?

Answer 3

Yes it basically is.

plants kinda fuck it up but that okay cuz they cool

Question 4

The same pattern of size - density inverse relationship, although the processes are very different, what is the process?

Answer 4

Trees star off petty small (growing in very high density) although as they get bigger the density declines due to mortality within the population.

Question 5

What is a size spectrum

Answer 5

How size influences population density

Question 6

True or false:

Groups of organisms that are closely related tend to have similar size spectrum

Answer 6

True

Question 7

What influences the rarity of species?

Answer 7

• geographical rage of the species
• • extreme vs restricted
• Habitat tolerance
• • broad vs narrow
• Local population size
• -Large vs small

Question 8

How many forms of rarity are there?

Answer 8

8

with 7 of these combinations leading to the species being rare.

Question 9

The abundance and distribution of species is
correlated. Why might this be?

A. Species with broad niches tend to be more
abundance and are more widely spread
B. Dispersal within metapopulations allows for
“rescue” of smaller subpopulations by
individuals from larger subpopulations
C. It’s just a stats problem, rarer species are just
harder to find and are observed/sampled less
often
D. A and B
E. All of the above

Answer 9

E

Question 10

What is the IUCN?

Answer 10

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Question 11

What dose “special concern” mean within the IUCN?

Answer 11

Particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events

Question 12

What dose “Threatened” mean within the IUCN?

Answer 12

Likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed

Question 13

What dose “Endangered” mean within the IUCN?

Answer 13

At immediate risk of extripation or extinction

Question 14

What dose “Extirpated” mean within the IUCN?

Answer 14

No longer exists in Canada, but dose elsewhere.

Question 15

What dose “Extinct” mean within the IUCN?

Answer 15

No longer exists anywhere in the world.

Question 16

What defines Population structure?

Answer 16

Defined by factors such as survival, age and sex distribution, and dispersal.

Question 17

What dose NAR mean under the IUCN?

Answer 17

Not at risk

Question 18

Why should we study population dynamics?

Answer 18

• The Dall sheep and Grey wold dynamics.

The relationship between these animals was that the wolfs would only hunt the really young and the really old sheep.

The mid range sheep could avoid the wolfs, so the wolfs played a very small role in the overall population of the sheep.

Question 19

What are patterns of survival?

Answer 19

Pattern of survival and mortality among
individuals in population fundamental descriptor
of population.

Question 20

What is a life table?

Answer 20

Bookkeeping devices to track births and deaths in populations, from which to estimate survival.

Question 21

Survivorship curve:

Answer 21

Summarize patterns of survival within a population.