Population Ecology (W5) Flashcards
What do resources & conditions do for the hierarchy of ecology?
Set the stage for how all the different levels of hierarchy interact with one another.
Resources?
= things that individuals consume throughout their growth & reproduction.
Conditions?
= physiochemical features of an environment that affect the physiology of individuals.
Egs of Conditions? (2)
• Temperature.
• Salinity (in aquatic environments).
Questions we ask/focus on in population ecology? (2)
• What affects the abundance of a population?
• What affects the distribution of a population?
Applied population ecology definitions? (2)
= the use of population ecology principles to achieve a management goal.
OR
= the manipulation/protection of a population to achieve a goal.
Eg of Manipulative management regime?
Kruger National Park (culled animals & water points).
Custodian management regime?
= protecting an area with a goal that the natural processes that occur there will carry on operating without human interaction.
Eg of Custodian management regime?
North American National Parks.
Types of management approaches? (2)
• Manipulative management regime.
• Custodian management regime.
Goals of applied ecology? (4)
• Conservation.
• Pest control.
• Sustained harvest.
• Monitoring.
Conservation?
= make a population increase.
Eg of Conservation?
Roan & Sable antelope.
Pest control?
= make a population decrease.
Eg of Pest control?
Reducing abundance of rats in the city.
Sustained harvest?
= manage for a continuing yield.
Eg of Sustained harvest?
Harvesting fish from fish stock in a sustainable manner.
Monitoring?
= leave it alone but keep an eye on it.
Eg of Monitoring?
In organisms that are not a problem (manipulative management in a way through surveys).
Manipulative management regime attribute?
Does something to a population’s numbers directly or indirectly by altering the habitat, food, predators or disease.
Custodian management regime attributes? (3)
• Preventative.
• Protective.
• Aimed at minimizing the external influences on the population or its habitat.
How to decide which goal to use? (2)
• Value judgement.
• Technical judgement.
Value judgement (VJ)?
VJ attributes? (2)
• Word “should” indicates opinion.
• Depends on background of the opinion giver.
Egs of people deciding on the goal? (3)
• Ministers.
• Politicians.
• Management board.
Who are the people deciding on the goal?
= people responsible to the people they’re protecting.
Eg of VJ statement?
“Local survival of Acacia trees justifies the proposed reduction of elephants.”
Technical judgement (TJ)?
= judgement that is phrased in a way that makes it testable (practical).
TJ attributes? (2)
• Posed as a testable hypothesis.
• Allows us to learn from our failures & successes.
Egs of people who make technical judgements? (3)
• Managers.
• Scientists.
• Ecologists.
Eg of TJ?
“Elephants must be culled because, otherwise, they will eliminate Acacia trees from an area”.
Population?
= a group of individuals of the same species for which it is meaningful to consider density and distribution, rates of birth and death, sex and age structure, and other demographic parameters.
Population attribute?
The boundaries of the population are defined according to administrative convenience.
How do we characterize a population? (2)
Using:
• Static manners.
• Dynamic manners.
Static manners of characterizing a population? (4)
• Open/closed population.
• Movement in and out of the population.
• Density of population.
• Counts of abundance.
Dynamic manners of characterizing a population? (3)
• Population growth rate.
• Sex structure.
• Age structure.
Open population?
= presence of immigration & emigration.
Closed population?
= absence of immigration & emigration.
Density?
= number of animals per unit area.
Counts of abundance?
= numbers of individuals.
Sex structure?
= proportions of males & females.
Age structure?
= proportions of young & old.
What makes populations change over time? (4)
Levels of:
• Births.
• Immigration.
• Deaths.
• Emigration.
Factors that add to/increase the population number? (2)
• Births.
• Immigration.
Factors that decrease population number? (2)
• Deaths.
• Emigration.
If births & immigration are larger than deaths & emigration, what happens to the population?
If deaths & emigration are larger, what happens to the population?
What happens to the population if births and immigration & deaths and emigration are equal?
Births?
= flow of individuals into the population/added to the population number.
Nt?
= population size.
Nt+1?
= population size in the next time-step.
ΔN attributes? (2)
• Total amount of change from one year to the next.
• Increment.
ΔN formula before BIDEN model?
ΔN = B+I–D–E
where:
• ΔN = increment.
• B = births.
• I = immigration.
• D = deaths.
• E = emigration.
BIDEN model?
= model that assumes that there’s no immigration or emigration (no movement in & out of the area), ie., I-E=0.
ΔN formula according BIDEN model?
ΔN = B–D
Per capita rate?
= average birth or death rate per individual.
ΔN formulas under BIDEN model? (2)
• ΔN = B–D
• ΔN = Nt+1 – Nt
R?
= per capita change in population size.
Why divide births (B) & deaths (D) by the population size (Nt)?
It’s because births & deaths happen to individuals.
b?
= per capita birth rate.
d?
= per capita death rate.
R equations? (2)
• R = b–d
• R = ΔN/Nt
ΔN equations? (4)
• ΔN = B+I–D–E
• ΔN = B – D
• ΔN = Nt+1 – Nt
• ΔN = RNt
ΔN = B+I–D–E?
Before BIDEN model.
ΔN = B–D?
BIDEN model.
ΔN = Nt+1 – Nt?
2nd BIDEN model equation.
ΔN = RNt?
Relates to per capita rates.
λ ?
= finite rate of change.
λ > 1?
Population is increasing.
λ < 1?
Population is decreasing.
λ equations? (2)
• λ = 1+R
• λ = 1+b–d
How did λ = 1+R come about? (4)
ΔN = RNt
Nt+1 – Nt = RNt
Nt+1 = Nt + RNt
Nt+1 = Nt (1+R)
Therefore, λ = 1+R.
How did λ = 1+b–d come about? (4)
Nt+1 – Nt = RNt
Nt+1 – Nt = (b–d) Nt
Nt+1 = Nt + (b–d) Nt
Nt+1 = Nt + (1+b–d)
Therefore, λ = 1+b–d.
Types of population models? (2)
• Discrete population model.
• Continuous population model.