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Restricting the broader scale flow of genes (like when a subgroup finds itself
isolated on an island). allows rapid diversification of the small group, much
more so than would be possible were it still part of a larger, more
geographically expansive breeding population. Why?
- the new island group is likely to experience a new habitat and thus new
selection pressures consistent with that new habitat and thus selection for
different traits.
- because the satellite group is isolated from emigration of the old
genotypes from the mainland population, the island population is not
diluted with old genes which would otherwise slow the development of
novel traits.
- islands need not be literal islands any barrier to gene flow amongst
populations will stimulate the same process (a population of an exotic
species find themselves on an island relative to their former situation in
their native habitat).

The adaptive / evolutionary history of Darwins finches parallels that of the

Thingvallavatn charr a single colonizing morphotype, in an extremely
competitive environment with the absence of other more specialized
competitors facilitates diversification in order to exploit underutilized resources.
The more diverse the resource base (more and different kinds of primary and
secondary productivity), the more diverse opportunities there are for making a
living. aka biodiversity.

Factors that lead to diversity in Galapagos' finches.?

Single colonizing species therefore very intense competition for food
An oceanic island so no chance to ease competition through expansion
Any [genetically based] mutation that afforded exploitation of alternative
forage yielded disproportionate fitness increase
Absence of niche-equivalent competitors facilitates adaptive radiation of
ancestral finch type
In cases where speciation occurs resulting from the physical / geographic
splitting of a formerly singe population is called Allopatric Speciation

Lakes are ecological islands and therefore often show similar patterns of
adaptive radiation.

The very same principles operate on very long times scales at a global scale
macroevolution

Branding is an attempt to partition niche space of your product from the

competition.
Successful branding defines the niche of products as opposed to species

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Inclusion of time makes the B and D rates instead of static numbers.

Delta is a Greek letter and is used to denote change in ecology and math in
general.

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population shrank because B < D

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Remember BEDMAS

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Social economist studied London England population

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Where is food NOT limited?

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Intrinsic rate of growth refers to the intrinsic ability of the population to

increase. No matter how abundant the resources, an elephant
population will never be able to grow at the same rate as a rabbit
population. The elephants are intrinsically limited by being
elephants..
rmax is when B is at its greatest relative to D.

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Current state does not determine growth RATE in linear growth.

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e = natural log = ln = 2.718

the equation in English is: The number of individuals (N) at some time
(t) in the future (Nt or N at t) is equal to the starting population size
(No) times the natural log raised to the species intrinsic rate of increase
(r) times time (t)
Time can be minutes, days, years, generations etc so long as the
value and units are the same for the two ts in the equation, it does not
matter. The most common unit is generations as this is the most
ecologically meaningful unit of time measure.

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Appropriate time interval is generations. Here the species of interest breeds

annually.
For those not used to working with natural logs, make sure you know how to
use your calculator to calculate Nt.

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Rabbit range expanded 70 miles a year

Released from all normal ecological restraints in Australia prolonged
exponential growth ensued.

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Realized growth rate (r ) is density dependent just as in the

allowance experiment, in exponential growth the current allowance
dictated the next weeks allowance.
If a population expands into a resource-rich environment, population
growth rate is limited only by r (intrinsic rate of growth), later though as
demand outstrips supply of resources, population growth is limited by
the carrying capacity (resources) of the habitat.
Re-emphasize density dependence in the context of early and late
growth phases (early - # females increases driving growth; later
number of individuals limits resource availability)

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Will dN/dt be the same at the beginning of the curve as at the end? No, the
rate of change decreases as the population reaches K

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Here r=1.0 and K= 1500. As the population density increases and nears 1500
the logistic curves growth rate (r) decreases until it reaches 0 at 1500

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Side note: Why is this male salmon red?

Salmon return as adults to their natal streams1000s of times larger than
when they left. The difference - secondary production while in the ocean
represents a marine subsidy to the stream and surrounding terrestrial
community. After spawning the salmon dies and....

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that massive marine nutrient subsidy is released to the stream and forest
when the salmon bodies are consumed.

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This is what we think of in terms of how this nutrient subsidy is consumed and
fuels the community

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or this...

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but the vast majoiry of salmon biomass is broken down by these (and
animals like them)...maggots (larval form) of numerous fly species.

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Would either species abundance be greatly affected by the annual pulse of

salmon?
Yes fly. The breeding cycle of a bear is far to long to respond to brief
episodic events like a salmon spawning whereas the fly population will
explode with the influx of salmon but just as quickly die off once the subsidy is
consumed.
So, the bears respond in terms of individual health / performance whereas flies
respond demographically (dramatic change in population abundance)

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What is dN/dt when N is less than K?

N is equal to K?
N is greater than K?

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Neither K or r are constant both are dynamic values that change

(occasionally very rapidly) in time.
Logistic Growth Equation: incorporates changes in growth rate as population
size approaches carrying capacity (and may temporarily overshoot it). Has a
stabilizing effect.

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N=20
N=500
No even though the per capita contribution is lower, the total number
of breeders means greater total increase when the population reaches
N=500

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Contrast the carrying capacities and population sizes of the species on the left
to those on the right.
Lower far right images are herring and herring spawn in coastal waters
Contrast the rmax of those organisms on the right vs left. Also contrast the
level of investment in each offspring in the two groupstwo general strategies
emerge.

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r and K are not absolute categories best used for general comparisons. For
example, rats are more r selected than humans but are definitely K selected
relative to herring.
One strategy is built around high reproduction to overcome high mortality. The
other thrives in intensely competitive environments by producing few, high
quality young.
Which has greater capacity to respond to environmental change
(adaptability)? r-strategists

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Which of the three have the greatest r(max)?

What advantage is there to a type II strategy? Typical type II species are both
bottom-up and top-down limited. Therefore a type ii strategy permits maximum
flexibility

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The business world has long recognized the trade-offs between speed, quality
and expense.
r-strategists are fast because they are eco-cheap, but of low quality and
cannot compete
K-strategists are slow and expensive but high quality.

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r-strategists thrive where competition is not a dominant feature of the

community (until now we have restricted our perspective to
populations).
K-strategists thrive when competition is intense and largely determines
success.
IMPORTANT to recognize the decline in r (the blue part of the plot) can
reflect intraspecific or interspecific competition. The interspecific
component of competition leads us to community dynamics (as
opposed to population dynamics).

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Regardless of the physical particulars most systems change over time through
succession of stages.
-Highest species diversity in mid stage
- early colonizers are generalists (r-strategists)
- late dominants are highly competitive specialists (K-specialists)
-- larger organisms (both plant and animal) not until later stageswhy? These
are expensive species and early stages do not have the ecological capital
(primary and secondary production) necessary to support them.

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