How does population size change:

-A population consists of all the members of a particular species that live within an ecosystem (all the
living and nonliving components)
-Community: a group of interacting populations, they exist within ecosystems
-Biosphere: enormous ecosystem that includes all of Earth´s habitable surface
-Ecology: study of the interrelationships of organisms with each other and with their nonliving
environment

Changes in population size result form natural increases and net migration:
-population size changes through: births, deaths, and net migration
-natural increase: difference between births and deaths
-net migration: difference between immigration (into the population) and emigration (out of the
population)
-change in population = natural increase + net migration
-reproduction + emigration can help keep the original population size (usually young species emigrate)

-growth rate: the percentage change in the population size in time

-growth rate = birth rate – death rate (same as natural increase)
-population growth: the number of individuals added to a population in a given time interval
-population growth (G) = growth rate x population size (N)
-the growth rate of a population predicts its future size only if environmental conditions remain constant

-exponential growth: even larger number is added to a population during a time period (happens when
each individual of the population produces more than 1 offspring that survives to reproduce)
-J-curve: used to graph an exponentially growing population
-by postponing reproduction population growth is slowed down

Biotic Potential determines the maximum rate at which a population can grow:
-Biotic potential: the maximum rate at which a population can increase
-calculations of biotic potential assume ideal conditions (unlimited resources and no predators) that allow
a maximum birth rate and a minimum death rate
-factors that affect it: age at which an organism first reproduces, frequency of reproduction, average
number of offsprings, length of the reproductive life span, death rate under ideal conditions

How is population growth regulated:

-population size = interaction between biotic potential and environmental resistance
-environmental resistance: all the curbs on population growth imposed by the living and nonliving
environment (ex. Predation, competition, natural events)

Exponential growth occurs only under unusual conditions:

-boom and bust cycles: rapid population growth followed by a sudden die off
-boom and bust cycles occur normally on short-lived, rapidly reproducing species (climate and seasons
can affect the reproduction season and cycle)
-in populations that do not undergo boom and bust, exponential growth may occur temporarily under
special circumstances (predation is reduced, food supply or habitat is increased)
-invasive species: organisms with high biotic potential that are introduced into ecosystems where they did
not evolve and that find little environmental resistance

Environmental resistance limits population growth:

-environmental resistance creates a balance between the size of a population and the resources available
to support it
-logistic population growth: populations that increase up to the maximum number that their environment
can sustain and then stabilize
-carrying capacity (K): the maximum population size that can be sustained by an ecosystem for an
extended period of time without damage to the environment
-S-curve: occurs when logistic growth is graphed
-an increase in population size above carrying capacity can be sustained for a short time (population
above carrying capacity is living at the expense of resources that cannot regenerate as fast as they are
being depleted)
-overshoot in carrying capacity = decrease in carrying capacity and decrease in population size (N) until
the original K is restored
-extreme overshoot in carrying capacity: destruction of essential resources that might not recover,
decrease in populations
-during logistic population growth: as environmental resistance increases, population growth slows and
stops at approximately the carrying capacity of the environment
-2 forms of environmental resistance: density independent and density dependent
-density-independent: limit population size regardless of the population density
-density-dependent: increase in effectiveness as the population density increases
-nutrients, energy, and space are the primary determinants of carrying capacity and are all density-
dependent factors
-Density-independent:
-habitat destruction by humans (biggest threat to wildlife)
-seasonal changes (animals adapt and evolve to survive or migrate)
-Density-dependent:
-predators: organisms that eat other organisms or preys (sometimes organism can be killed at the
moment or damaged)
-predators are density dependent because they feed more on prey populations that grow, more
effective as regulators if preys become more abundant
-population cycles: prey increases so predators increase, but then prey decreases and predators too
-predators might contribute to the overall health of prey populations (they eliminate the weak and
poorly adapted organisms)
-help maintain a healthy prey population and density that can be sustained by the resources of the
ecosystem

-parasite: feeds on a larger organism (host) and harms it

-some might kill the host or keep it alive to keep benefiting from them (tapeworms, ticks, disease-
causing microorganisms)
-most parasites cannot travel long distances so they spread more rapidly among hosts in dense
populations
-organisms weakened by parasites are less likely to reproduce, they are weakened and mor elikely
to die
-contribute to the death of less-fit individuals producing a regulation in the host population
-balance can be destroyed if parasites are introduced into regions in which their preys have no
defenses against them (no environmental resistance)

-competition: interaction among individuals who attempt to use the same limited resources
-2 major forms: interspecific (individuals from different species) and intraspecific (individuals of
the same species)
-scramble competition (intraspecific): free-for-all with resources as the prize, the ones that grab
the resources first win
 -contest competition: social or chemical interactions determine access to resources (species
defend an area containing the resources needed, when the population exceeds the size only the
best-adapted are able to defend territory)
-density dependent and density independent interact to regulate the population size (a species might be
weakened by competition or a parasite but then be killed by a cold winter)

How are populations distributed:

-determined by behavioral characteristics and their environment
-Spatial distributions:
-spatial distribution: how individuals within a population are distributed within a given area
-3 types: crumpled, uniform, and random
-clumped distribution: populations whose members live in groups (elephants, wolves, lions, fish, birds)
-benefits: hunting in groups, many eyes to spot food, confusing predators, take advantage of
localized resources
-uniform distribution: maintain a relatively constant distance between individuals (territorial behaviors
that evolved to maintain their access to limited resources, more common during breeding seasons)
-ex. Even distribution of nests, spacing between plants so that their roots can grab the resources
-random distribution: individuals that do not form social groups (resources are equally available through
the area and are not scarce so positions isn’t important)
-ex. Trees and plants in a rainforest, no vertebrates have random distribution

-Age distributions:
-survivorship tables: tracks groups of organisms throughout their live to record how many survive
-survivorship curves: used to graph, 3 types (late loss, constant loss and early lost) according to the part in
the life cycle where deaths usually occur