populations Flashcards
population
the total number of organisms of a single species interbreeding within a habitat
habitat
the physical place where an organism lives
birth rate
the number of new indivduals derived from reproduction per unit time
immigration
the moment of individuals into a population
What is the equation for population size
- birth rate + immigration - death rate + emmigration
What are the four phases for population change
- lag phase
- exponential phase
- stationary phase
- death phase
decribe what happens during the lag phase
- period slow growth
- sexually reproducing organisms eg rabbits this represent the time takes to reach sexual maturity in gestating young
Describe what happens during the log phase
- growth phase
- number increase logarthimically as there are no factors limiting growth
- this cannot be maintinained indefinitley as environmental resitstance reduces growth from the avaiiabikity of food and space and other biotic factors such as predation competition, parasitism and disease and abiotic factors such as soil Ph light intensity and temperature which also reduce population growth
Describe what happens during the stationary phase
- birth and death rates are equal and the population has reached its maximum size or carrying capcity
- numbers will fluctuate around this in response to environmental changes
- often due to predator prey relationships where negative feedback regulates
- eg number of prey decrease so there is less food so number of predators decrease which reduces predation so prey number increase and so on
- these fluctuations exist over months even years as population responses are slow
What happens during the death phase
- factors that have reduced population growth become more significant and the population size decreases
- death exceeds births
Biotic factor
living factor
eg a predator or pathogen which can influence the population
abiotic factor
a non living factor
eg oxygen availability or air temperature which can influence the population
carrying capacity
the maximum numer around which a population fluctuates in a given environement
negative feedback
occurs in an equilibrium where the corrective mechanism is in the opposite direction to the direction of change eg if population number increae negative feedback results in a decrease and vice versa
What are density dependent factors and give two examples
- some factors have an increased effect on larger population sizes
- are biotic factors eg predation and disease
- in large populations disease is more easily spread and a predator can find prey more easily
What are density independent factors an give two examples
- are abiotic
- light intensity or temperature
- therefore their effect is the same regardless of the population density
- eg fire it will kill all life in its path wherther it is one tree of hundreds
Describe what an abundance of species is
- measure of how many individuals exist in a habitat
How can an abundance of a species be assessed
- physical features - soil type Ph and temperature will influence the range of organims that can live
Why should sampling me bias
to eliminate sampling bias
]Describe how you can sample terrestrial animals and what are the assumptions
- mark release recapture
- animals are captured and marked (not harmed or made more visible to predators) and then released
- once animals have had chance to reintegrate with the population the traps are reset
- the total population size can be estimated using the number of individuals captured in the second sample and the number in that sample are marked
- (no sample 1 x no sample 2)/no marked in sample
- have to assume no briths/deaths/immigration/emmigration have occurred during the time between collecting both samples
Describe how samples are taken of freashwarer invertebrates
- use kick sampling and simpsons index
- collect and identify invertebrates from a given area using a quadrat and a net
- kick or rake the area for a set period and collect invertebrates in a net downstream
- release invertebrates carfully and use simpsons index to calculate diversity
Describe how plants can me sampled
- quadrats and transects
- estimate percentage area cover of different plants using a quadrat divided into 100 sections
- measure plant density by counting number of plants in a quadrat
- a transect is a tap measure that is used to measure intervals along an environmental gradient eg distance from a woodland along which quadrats can be placed
ecosystem
a community in whcih energy and matter are transferred in complex interactions between the environment and organisms involving abiotic and biotic elements
producer
the autotrophic organism at the start of a food chain converts light energy into chemical energy
trophic level
the feeding level within a food chain and shows the number of times that energy has been transferred to successive organisms along a food chain
biomass
the mass of biological material in living or recently living organisms
What does an ecosystem represent and what varies between them
- the total number of different organisms of all species present in a habitat in which energy and matter are transferred in complex interactions between the environment and organisms
- abiotic and biotic features vary from ecosystem to ecosystem
Give examples of ecosystems
- tropical rainforest, temperature decidueous forest, tundra and desert
What does a food chain represent
the enrgy flow through an ecosystem
describe the flow of energy through a food chain
- the ultimate source of energy for a food chain is sunlight whcih is converted into chemical energy by producers via photosyntheis
- most of the nergy available at each trophic levels is released in respiration and incorporated into other molecules or into electrochemical gradients
- this means that often less that 10 % is incorporated into biomass and is available to thge next trophic level which limits the length of food chains
What are primary consumers
herbivores and feed on producers
What are secondary and tertiary consumers
- include carnivores and feed on the trophic level below
What does decomposition involve and what do decomposers feed on
- detritivores eg earthworms and woodlice
- these feed on detritus (the remenants of dead orgnaisms and fallen leaves)
- decomposers eg bacteria and fungi that feed via external digestion(saprotrophism) completing the process started by detritivores
- on all trophic levels and other decomposers
Why is the majoirty of light not absorbed by pigments in chloroplasts
- wrong wavelength
- reflected by leaf surface
- transmitted through the leaf without striking a chlorophyll molecule