Temperature-dependent population models of aquatic plants Flashcards
demographic stochasticity
how populations randomly change with time (e.g, births, deaths)
deterministic models in terms of vital rates
vital rates such as birth, death, migration are constant and unchanging over time
why is it important to account for demographic stochasticity on models?
- it alters coexistence patterns
- disease duration time is increased
- metacommunity spatial synchrony is reduced (metacommunity = communities connected by dispersion of interacting species)
- increased extinction risk
How can we calculate the effects of demographic stochasticity?
- add white noise to differential equations (from deterministic to stochastic differential equations = SDEs)
- embedding SDEs into probability distributions
- stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA): great for large deviations such as extinction
what is stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA)?
SSA considers stochasticity both in terms of demography and environmental; uses equations that describe how probability density of a system evolves in time
compare homogeneous x heterogeneous demographies exposed to irregular temperature fluctuations
Significant differences when comparing homogeneous x heterogeneous populations. In irregular environments, heterogeneous demography populations initially decrease, but later increase in comparison with homogeneous populations (this corresponds to comparing performance in constant x random fluctuations)
compare homogeneous x heterogeneous demographies exposed to sine wave fluctuations
In sine wave fluctuations, demographic events happen earlier in heterogeneous populations, resulting in higher pop. sizes than homogeneous ones
is it important to consider the heterogeneity of a population when modelling it?
yes, because studies modelling both exponential and logistic growth found big differences between the population sizes of homogeneous versus heterogeneous populations in a changing environment (both regularly and irregularly changing)
why is it important to consider the heterogeneity of a population when modelling it?
1) there is an established dependence between demographic traits and environmental conditions
2) climate change is increasing environmental variability
vital rates vary in terms of how they affect population growth rates: what is the main management implication of this?
management actions targeted at different vital rates will result in different population growth
what helps us to identify vital rates more likely to have a greater impact on population growth?
sensitivity analyses
how can we calculate fitness of invidivuals and populations?
based on lambda (growth rates)
what kind of population modelling analysis can be used to investigate natural selection?
sensitivity tools used for environmental management can be used for interpreting natural selection, as each vital rate can affect fitness to different extents
why identifying important vital rates is just first step when managing populations?
some vital rates are not manageable (constrained by nature: animal size; unethical: killing endangered species to improve survival of another; too expensive); we need to find optimal changes; we need to define if change is related to mean/variation in vital rates or to changing stage structure directly
why do particular dynamics of different ages, sexes, stages matter for predictions?
because changes in one stage can cause cascade effects on population as a whole
which biological characteristics can be used to define each population stage in a given species?
stage = age: humans and some other species
stage = recognizable morphology, size, behavior, etc.: most species
what does the 1st row of a matrix-projection model represent?
reproduction from each stage to next time step (eg., year) (reprod. contribution to next time step)
what does the diagonal row of a matrix-projection model represent?
proportion of invididuals surviving and keeping in the same stage next year
what do the rows and columns of a matrix-projection represent?
each stage
what does the subdiagonal of a matrix-projection represent?
proportion of individuals surviving and moving to the next stage
what does the sum of a matrix-projection column represent? (excluding 1st row)
total proportion of surviving individuals in a given stage in a given time step
what does a2,1 mean in a matrix-projection column?
proportion of individuals surviving the first time step and going to the next stage (eg., juvenile) in the next time step
what does a2,2 mean in a matrix-projection column?
proportion of individuals remaining in the same time step
which row in a matrix-projection allows for calculating stage-specific fecundity?
first row
what is fecundity in the context of stage-based population models?
average number of offspring produced by individuals in a given year (or other time step)
how can reproductive contribution to next time step be calculated?
based on fecundity (m) and survival (P)
does the timing of data collection matter for creating matrix-projections?
yes, because of the age of youngest individuals. If data was collected before new birth pulse, youngest individuals will have already developed; if it was collected collected after birth pulse, youngest individuals will be newborns