Populations
Populations
Populations
CHAPTER3
MAJORCHARACTERISTICS
OFAPOPULATION
POPULATIONSAREALWAYS
CHANGING:
SIZE
DENSITY
DISPERSIONclumped,uniform,random
AGEDISTRIBUTION
THESECHANGESARECALLED
POPULATIONDYNAMICS
Clumped
(elephants)
Uniform
(creosote bush)
Random
(dandelions)
LimitstoPopulationgrowth
NATALITYBIRTH
MORTALITYDEATH
IMMIGRATIONMOVEMENTIN
EMIGRATIONMOVEMENTOUT
POPULATIONCHANGE=
(BIRTH+IMMIGRATIONDEATH+
EMIGRATION)
ZEROPOPULATION
GROWTH(ZPG)
WHENTHENUMBEROF
INDIVIDUALSADDEDFROM
BIRTHSANDIMMIGRATION
EQUALSTHENUMBERLOSTTO
DEATHSANDEMIGRATION
BIOTICPOTENTIAL
ALLTHEFACTORSWHICHCAUSEA
POPULATIONTOINCREASEIN
GROWTH
INTRINSICRATEOFINCREASE(r)
THERATEATWHICHAPOPULATION
WOULDGROWONUNLIMITED
RESOURCES
POPULATIONSWITHHIGH
INTRINSICRATEOFINCREASE
REPRODUCEEARLYIN
LIFE
HAVESHORT
GENERATIONTIMES
CANREPRODUCE
MANYTIMES
HAVEMANY
OFFSPRINGEACHTIME
THEYREPRODUCE.
EXAMPLEHOUSEFLY
ENVIRONMENTAL
RESISTANCE
ALLTHEFACTORSTHATLIMITTHE
GROWTHOFAPOPULATION
ENVIRONMENTALRESISTANCE+
BIOTICPOTENTIALDETERMINE
CARRYINGCAPACITY(K)
NUMBEROFINDIVIDUALSOFASPECIES
THEENVIRONMENTCANSUSTAIN
INDEFINITELY
MINIMUMVIABLE
POPULATION(MVP)
MINIMUMPOPULATIONSIZE
BELOWTHIS
INDIVIDUALSMAYNOTBEABLETO
FINDMATES
MAYHAVEINTERBREEDINGAND
PRODUCEWEAKOFFSPRING
GENETICDIVERSITYMAYBETOOLOW
TOENABLEADAPTATIONTONEW
ENVIRONMENTALCONDITIONS.
EXPONENTIALVS.LOGISTIC
GROWTH
EXPONENTIALGROWTHSTARTSOUT
SLOWLYANDPROCEEDSFASTERAND
FASTER
FORMSAJSHAPEDCURVE
LOGISTICGROWTHINVOLVES
EXPONENTIALUNTILPOPULATION
ENCOUNTERSENVIRONMENTALRESISTANCE
ANDAPPROACHESCARRYINGCAPACITY.
THENPOPULATIONFLUCTUATES
FORMSASIGMOIDORSSHAPEDCURVE
Time (t)
Exponential Growth
Time (t)
Logistic Growth
WHENPOPULATIONSEXCEED
CARRYINGCAPACITY
SOMETIMESOVERSHOOT
HAPPENSBECAUSEOFAREPRODUCTIVE
TIMELAGPERIODNEEDEDFORBIRTH
RATESTOFALLANDDEATHRATESTO
RISE
HAVEADIEBACKORCRASH
UNLESSORGANISMSCANMOVEOFSWITCH
TONEWRESOURCES
EASTERISLANDANEXAMPLEOFTHIS
2.0
1.5
1.0
.5
1800
1825
1850
1875
Year
1900
1925
WHATAFFECTSCARRYING
CAPACITY?
COMPETITIONWITHINAND
BETWEENSPECIES
IMMIGRATIONANDEMIGRATION
NATURALANDHUMANCAUSED
CATASTROPHICEVENTS
SEASONALFLUTUATIONINFOOD,
WATER,COVER,ANDNESTINGSITES.
EFFECTSOFPOPULATION
DENSITY
DENSITYINDEPENDENT
POPULATIONCONTROLS
AFFECTAPOPULATIONREGARDLESS
OFPOPULATIONSIZE
FLOODS,HURRICANES,SEVERE
DROUGHT,UNSEASONABLEWEATHER,
FIRE,HABITATDESTRUCTION
DENSITYDEPENDENTPOPULATION
CONTROLS
HAVEAGREATEREFFECTAS
POPULATIONDENSITYINCREASES:
COMPETITIONFORRESOURCES,
PREDATION,PARASITISM,DISEASE
EXAMPLE:INFECTIOUSDISEASES
TYPESOFPOPULATION
FLUCTUATIONS
STABLEFLUCTUATESABOVEANDBELOW
CARRYINGCAPACITY
TROPICALRAINFOREST
IRRUPTIVEFAIRLYSTABLETHANEXPLODES
RACOONS
IRREGULARNOSETPATTERN
SIMILARTOCHAOS
CYCLICNOREALEXPLANATION
LEMMINGS
Irregular
Number of individuals
Stable
Cyclic
Irruptive
Time
HOWPREDATORSCONTROL
POPULATIONSIZE
PREDATORPREYCYCLESPOORLY
UNDERSTOOD
SHARPINCREASEINNUMBERS
FOLLOWEDBYCRASHES
LYNXANDHARESINARCTIC
TOPDOWNCONTROLHYPOTHESIS
LYNXCONTROLHARESANDLACKOF
HARESCONTROLLYNXPOPULATION
BOTTOMUPCONTROL
HYPOTHESIS
HARESEATTOOMANYPLANTSTHEIR
POPULATIONDROPSTHENLYNX
POPULATIONDROPSALSO.
COULDBEATHREEWAY
INTERACTIONBETWEENPLANTS,
HARES,ANDLYNXES.
5,000
Moose population
Wolf population
3,000
100
90
80
2,000
70
60
1,000
50
40
500
20
1900 1910
30
1930
1950
Year
1970
1990 2000
Number of wolves
Number of moose
4,000
10
0
Fig. 9.9, p. 204
1997
REPRODUCTIVEPATTERNS
ASEXUALREPRODUCTIONALL
OFFSPRINGARECLONESOFASINGLE
PARENT
BACTERIA
SEXUALREPRODUCTIONCOMBINATION
OFGAMETESFROMBOTHPARENTS
97%OFALLORGANISMSREPRODUCE
SEXUALLY
GIVESGREATERGENETICDIVERSITYIN
ORRSPRING
RSELECTEDSPECIES
GENERALISTS
SPECIESREPRODUCEEARLYANDPUT
MOSTOFTHEIRENERGYINTO
REPRODUCTION
HAVEMANYOFFSPRINGEACHTIMETHEY
REPRODUCE
REACHREPRODUCTIVEAGEEARLY
HAVESHORTGENERATIONTIMES
GIVEOFFSPRINGLITTLEORNOPARENTAL
CARE
ARESHORTLIVED
KSELECTEDSPECIES
COMPETITORS
PUTLITTLEENERGYINTO
REPRODUCTION
TENDTOREPRODUCELATEINLIFE
AREFAIRLYLARGE
MATURESLOWLY
ARECAREDFORBYONEORBOTH
PARENTS
MANYAREPRONETOEXTINCTION
Kselectedspeciesdobetterinecosystems
withfairlyconstantenvironmental
conditions
Tendtodowellincompetitiveconditionswhen
theirpopulationsizeisnearcarryingcapacity
(K)
Rselectedspeciesthriveinecosystemsthat
experiencedisturbances
CONSERVATIONBIOLOGY
MULTIDISCIPLINARYSCIENCE
INVESTIGATESHUMANIMPACTSON
BIODIVERSITY
DEVELOPSPRACTICALAPPROACHESTO
MAINTAININGBIODIVERSITY
VERYCONCERNEDWITHENDANGERED
SPECIES,WILDLIFERESERVES,
ECOLOGICALRESTORATION,AND
ECOLOGICALECONOMICS.
WILDLIFEMANAGEMENT
DEALSMAINLYWITHGAMESPECIES
PRINCIPLESOF
CONSERVATIONBIOLOGY
BIODIVERSITYISNECESSARYFOR
ALLLIFEONEARTH
HUMANSSHOULDNOTHARMOR
HASTENEXTINCTIONOFWILDLIFE
THEBESTWAYTOPROTECT
BIODIVERSITYISTOPROTECT
ECOSYSTEMS.
BIOINFORMATICS
PROVIDESTOOLSFORSTORAGE
ANDACCESSTOKEYBIOLOGICAL
INFORMATIONANDWITHBUILDING
DATABASESTHATCONTAINTHE
NEEDEDBIOLOGICAL
INFORMATION.
SURVIVORSHIPCURVES
SHOWTHENUMBEROFSURVIVORSOF
EACHAGEGROUPFORAPARTICULAR
SPECIES
SELECTACOHORT
FOLLOWTHEMTHROUGHOUTTHEIRLIFE
SPAN
SHOWSLIFEEXPECTANCYAND
PROBABILITYOFDEATHFOR
INDIVIDUALSATEACHAGE.
10
Age
Fig. 9.11, p. 206
THREETYPESOFSURVIVORSHIP
CURVES:
EARLYLOSStypicalforrselectedspecies
Annualplants&bonyfish
MANYDIEVERYEARLYINLIFE
LATELOSSKselectedspecies
Producefewoffspringandcareforthem
CONSTANTLOSSintermediatereproductive
patterns
Humanseffectsonecosystems
Fragmenting°radingecosystems
Simplifyingnaturalecosystems
Wastingordestroyingearthsnetprimaryproductivity
Strengtheningsomepestspecies,etc.byoverusing
pesticidesandantibiotics
Eliminatingsomepredators
Introducingalienspecies
Overharvestingrenewableresources
Interferingwithbiogeochemicalcyclesandenergyflow