1 / 21

Population Ecology

Population Ecology. Honors Biology. Life takes place in populations. Population group of individuals of same species in same area at same time. rely on same resources interact interbreed. Population Ecology: What factors affect a population?. Factors that affect Population Size.

jadzia
Download Presentation

Population Ecology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Population Ecology Honors Biology

  2. Life takes place in populations • Population • group of individuals of same species in same area at same time • rely on same resources • interact • interbreed Population Ecology: What factors affect a population?

  3. Factors that affect Population Size • Abiotic factors • sunlight & temperature • precipitation / water • soil / nutrients • Biotic factors • other living organisms • prey (food) • competitors • predators, parasites, disease • Intrinsic factors • adaptations

  4. 1970 1966 1960 1964 1965 1943 1951 1961 Equator 1958 1937 1956 Immigration from Africa ~1900 1970 Characterizing a Population • Describing a population • population range • pattern of spacing • density • size of population range density

  5. Population Range • Geographical limitations • abiotic & biotic factors • temperature, rainfall, food, predators, etc. • habitat adaptations topolar biome adaptations torainforest biome

  6. Population Spacing • Dispersal patterns within a population Provides insight into the environmental associations & social interactions of individuals in population clumped random uniform

  7. Clumped Pattern (most common)

  8. Uniform May result from direct interactions between individuals in the population  territoriality

  9. Population Size • Changes to population size • adding & removing individuals from a population • birth • death • immigration • emigration

  10. Measuring population density • How do we measure how many individuals in a population? • number of individuals in an area • mark & recapture methods Difficult to count a moving target sampling populations

  11. Age structure What do these data imply about population growth in these countries? • Relative number of individuals of each age

  12. 1000 Human (type I) Hydra (type II) 100 Survival per thousand Oyster (type III) 10 1 0 25 50 75 100 Percent of maximum life span Survivorship curves What do these graphs tell about survival & strategy of a species? • Generalized strategies I. High death rate in post-reproductive years II. Constant mortality rate throughout life span III. Very high early mortality but the few survivors then live long (stay reproductive)

  13. Reproductive strategies • K-selected • late reproduction • few offspring • invest a lot in raising offspring • primates • coconut • r-selected • early reproduction • many offspring • little parental care • insects • many plants K-selected r-selected

  14. Trade offs Number & size of offspring vs. Survival of offspring or parent r-selected K-selected “Of course, long before you mature, most of you will be eaten.”

  15. 1000 Human (type I) Hydra (type II) 100 Survival per thousand Oyster (type III) 10 1 0 25 50 75 100 Percent of maximum life span Life strategies & survivorship curves K-selection r-selection

  16. Exponential growth rate • Characteristic of populations without limiting factors • introduced to a new environment or rebounding from a catastrophe Whooping crane coming back from near extinction African elephant protected from hunting

  17. Regulation of population size competition for nesting sites • Limiting factors • density dependent • competition: food, mates, nesting sites • predators, parasites, pathogens • density independent • abiotic factors • sunlight (energy) • temperature • rainfall swarming locusts

  18. 10 8 Number of breeding male fur seals (thousands) 6 4 2 0 1915 1925 1935 1945 Time (years) 500 400 Number of cladocerans (per 200 ml) 300 200 100 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Time (days) Carrying capacity • Maximum population size that environment can support with no degradation of habitat • varies with changes in resources

  19. Changes in Carrying Capacity • Population cycles • predator – prey interactions At what population level is thecarrying capacity? K K

  20. Significant advances in medicine through science and technology Industrial Revolution Human population growth What factors have contributed to this exponential growth pattern? 20056 billion Is the human population reachingcarrying capacity? Bubonic plague "Black Death" 1650500 million

  21. Word Roots • a- = without • bio- = life • abyss- = deep, bottomless • bentho- = the depths of the sea • estuar- = the sea

More Related