CHAPTER 8: PROPERTIES OF POPULATIONS

[From Sir’s Lec Vid]

Overview: Populations
Individuals → part of a population
- interbreeding among members of a population
- has a spatial boundary

Organisms May be Unitary or Modular

Unitary - exists as individuals
- zygote grows into a genetically unique organism
- most animals
Modular - zygote develops into a module (a unit of construction)
- then produces further similar modules
- most plants

Characteristics of Populations
Population Dynamics
1. Size - number of individuals
2. Density - number of individuals in a certain space
3. Dispersion - how they are spaced out across the range
4. Age Distribution - the proportion of individuals at each age
Why it matters:
/ helps us understand how healthy the population is
/ helps us understand how the population works together, how to protect them and
how to manage sources and protections
/ helps us understand how fast a population will grow
- lots of young usually indicates growth and lots of old indicates shrinking

The Distribution of a Population Defines Its Spatial Location

Distribution
- indicates by the presence or absence of individuals
- influenced by occurrence of suitable environmental conditions
Population’s Geographic range - the area that encompasses all individuals of a species
- individuals are not distributed evenly
Geographic barriers → limits the distribution of a population
- restrict ability to colonize
Competition and Predation - can also limit distribution

Abundance Reflects Population and Density

Abundance - number of individuals in the population; defines its size
- a function of population density (number of indiv / area or volume)
Population distribution patterns
1. Random - an individual’s position is independent of others
- ex: scattering of seeds through wind
2. Uniform - results from negative interaction among individuals
- organisms at a regular distance from one another
3. Clumped - most common; results from patchy resources, social groupings
Populations Have Age Structures
- Proportion of indiv in diff age classes
- Influenced by reproduction and mortality
- Depends on its life history
- short-lived vs long-lived organisms
Age pyramids - represent age structure of a population at some period in time
- shape can provide info on status for future pop’n group
Negative growth rate - ex: US, Japan,

Individuals Move Within the Population

1. Dispersal → directly influences their local density
- maintains gene flow between subpopulations
One-way of movement of individuals
Emigration - moves out of a population
Immigration - moves into a population
2. Migration → round-trip movement made by an animal

[From Book]
8.1. Unitary and Modular Organisms
Population - a group of indiv of the same species living in a defined area
- characterized by distribution, abundance, density, and age structure.
- some made up of unitary individduals
- with definitive growth form and longevity
- in most plant pop, organisms are modular
- fundamental unit: leaf + axillary bud + internode
- may consist of sexually produced parent plants (genets) and
asexually produced stems arising from roots (ramets):
 stolons, rhizomes, suckers
- clones, collectively called as clonal colony

8.2. Distribution
Distribution of a population - describes its spatial location or the area over which it occurs.
- influenced by the occurrence of suitable environmental conditions
- based on the presence and absence of individuals
- range of different spatial scales
Geographic range - when the defined are encompasses all indiv of a species
- within, indiv are not distributed equally
Random - spacing of each is independent of others
Uniform - evenly distributed, similar distance
Clumped / Aggregated - grouped together
Factors that influence pop distribution:
1. Habitat stability
Ubiquitous - species w a geographically widespread distribution
Endemic - species w a distribution that is restricted to a particular locality
2. Geographic barriers
3. Interactions
Metapopulation - collective of spatially discrete local subpopulations
- connected to each other through the movement of indiv among them

8.3. Abundance
Abundance - the number of indiv in a population; defines pop size
- a function of 2 factors:
1. Population density - number of indiv per unit area or volume
Crude density - number of indiv per unit area
2. Geographic density - Area over which the pop is distributed
True / Ecological density - number of organisms in available living space

8.4. Sampling Procedures

Population size = density x area
Density and dispersion - to determine, requires careful sampling & appropriate stat analysis
For sessile organisms - researchers often use sample plots
- involves quadrats or sampling units
For mobile organisms - capture-recapture techniques
- Lincoln-Peterson index of relative pop size
- assumptions:
/ sampling is random
/ marked individuals must distribute themselves randomly
/ ratio of marked and unmarked indiv must not change
Determine relative abundance - use indicators of animal presence (tracks or feces)
- “Indices of abundance”

8.5. Age, Stage, and Size Structure

Age structure of a population - defined by the number of indiv within each age class
- often divided into 3 ecological periods:
 / prereproductive
/ reproductive
/ postreproductive
Age data - difficult to get from other organisms
Most accurate (and most difficult) method - mark young indic and follow survival
Less-accurate, fast methods - examine sample of indiv carcasses
Dendrochronology - determining approx ages by counting tree annual growth rings
- some employ size as an indicator
For short-lived herbaceous plants: mark indiv seedlings or
annual growth rings in root tissues
Age pyramids - snapshots of age structure of a pop at some period in time

8.6. Sex Ratios

Sexually reproducing pop tend to be: 1:1 (at conception and birth)
Secondary sex ratio (ratio at birth) - often weighted toward males
Older age groups - shift toward females
Males have a shorter life span than females do.
- result of both physio and behavioral factors

8.7. Dispersal
Dispersal - movement of individuals in space
- key process in the dynamics of metapopulation and maintaining flow
Emigration - move out of a pop
Immigration - move into a subpop
For some, dispersal is passive (gravity, wind, water, animals)
For mobil orgs - occur for a variety of reasons: search for mates and unoccupied habitat
Migration - systematic process of movement between areas

8.8 Population Dynamics

Dispersal - has the effect of shifting the spatial dist of indiv
Birth and Death - the primary factors driving the dynamics of population abundance