Individual
Population – same species, same time, same area
Community – all the different populations in an area
Ecosystem – all the different communities plus the abiotic factors in an area
Biosphere – all areas on Earth where life exists
2. Levels of complexity
Individual
Population – same species, same time, same
area
Community – all the different populations in
an area
Ecosystem – all the different communities
plus the abiotic factors in an area
Biosphere – all areas on Earth where life
exists
3. Population ecology
Study the factors that cause population to
increase and decrease
Population size
Input
Immigration
&
Births
Output
Emigration
&
Deaths
4. Basic population characteristics
Population size = total number of individuals (N)
Population density = number of individuals per unit of area
Helps us understand if the species is rare or abundant
Population distribution = how individuals are spaced relative to
others in the population
Random – no pattern of location (trees in a forest)
Uniform – fairly even spacing (nesting birds)
Clumped – individuals gather around each other (schooling fish)
Population sex ratio = the ratio of males to females
Usually 50:50
Population increase is related to the number of females
Population age structure = the number of individuals in each age
category
Populations with large numbers of young increasing
Populations with large numbers of old decreasing
5.
6.
7. Factors that influence population size
Density-dependent factors
Influence an individual’s odds of survival in a
manner that depends on the size of the
population
Example: available food
These factors are also called limiting resources
The population limit in an ecosystem is its
carrying capacity
8. Factors that influence population
size…
Density-independent factors
Have the same effect on an individual’s odds
of survival regardless of the size of the
population
Example: a tornado
9. Population growth models
Exponential growth model
Growth rate = number of offspring – deaths
Under ideal conditions (with unlimited
resources) each species has a particular
intrinsic growth rate – the max for that
species
This model calculates this maximum rate and
displays it as a J-shaped curve (because
there are no limits)
Only beginning populations can actually show
this type of growth
10. Population growth models…
Logistic growth model
Includes environmental limits on the
population growth
As the population reaches the carrying
capacity, the growth slows and then stops
This produces an S-shaped curve
Some populations cycle above and below the
carrying capacity – this is overshoot followed
by die-off
11.
12. Reproductive strategies
K-selected species
Low intrinsic growth rate
Slowly reach the carrying capacity and then
stay there
Characteristics:
Large
Later maturing
Few offspring
Substantial parental care
13. Population growth models…
r-Selected Species
High intrinsic growth rate
Rapid population growth followed by
overshoots and die-offs
Characteristics:
Small
Early maturity
Small offspring
Little or no parental care
14. Survivorship Curves
Patterns of survival over time:
Type I – high survival throughout most of their
lifespan
K-selected species: humans, elephants
Type III – low survival early in life; few
individuals reach adulthood
r-selected species: mosquitoes, dandelions
Type II – relatively constant decline in
survivorship throughout their lifespan
squirrels, coral
16. Metapopulations
Smaller, fragmented parts of a larger overall
population
Occasionally members of one metapopulation
move from one to the other
This can reduce the risk of extinction:
Moving individuals increase genetic diversity
as well as the size of a population
Human development is causing more and
more metapopulations to form
17. Community Interactions
Competition
Individuals must ‘fight’ over the same limiting resource
Competitive exclusion principal
Two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist
Resource partitioning
Two species divide the resource based on differences in behavior or
morphology
This can lead to natural selection which over time will increase the
differences between the 2 species
Three possibilities:
1. Temporal resource partitioning – use the same resource but at
different times (coyotes and wolves)
2. Spatial resource partitioning – use different locations (plants with
shallow roots vs. deep roots)
3. Morphological resource partitioning – evolution of different body plans
to use different parts of the resource (Darwin’s finches)
19. Community Interactions…
Predation - the use of one species as a
resource by another
Four categories:
1. True predators – kill and eat their prey
2. Herbivores – consume plants as prey; typically
only eat some of the plant; rarely kill the plant
3. Parasites – live on or in a host organism; rarely
causes the death of their host
Pathogen – disease-causing parasite
4. Parasitoids – lay eggs inside another organism
20. Community Interactions…
Mutualism – two species interacting in a way
that increases the survivability of both
Plants and the insects that pollinate them
Acacia trees and ants
Commensalism – one species benefits from
an association with another but the other is
not helped nor harmed
Birds nesting in trees
21. Keystone Species
The species on which the
ecosystem stability
depends – removing it
leads to instability:
1. Food supply species (figs)
2. Predator-mediated
competition – the predator
keeps the numbers of the
superior competitor in
check. Without the predator,
the competitor over-
populates the ecosystem
(sea stars)
3. Ecosystem engineers –
create habitat for other
species (beavers)
23. Changes in communities over time
Ecological succession – predictable replacement of one group
of species by another
Two types:
1. Primary succession – occurs only on surfaces without any
soil (new volcanic area; abandoned parking lot)
2. Secondary succession – occurs in disturbed areas that
have not lost their soil – the original vegetation has been
removed as in a forest fire or even abandoned farmland
Pioneer species – plants that are able to colonize new areas at
the early stages of succession. They grow rapidly and need
lots of sunlight
Climax community – the later stages of succession. Generally
considered to be the ‘typical’ type of community for that biome
24. Factors affecting species richness
Latitude:
equator to poles number of species
declines
Time:
longer areas have been around more
species
Habitat size:
larger habitat area more species
Distance from other habitats:
increase distance fewer species