GEC 21 – ECOSYSTEM’S POPULATION, POLLUTION AND ENERGY RESOURCES

What is a Population? "A population is a group of organisms of the same species occupying a
given geographic location at the same time."

Understanding the demography of populations has many critical applications:

Demography is the statistical study of populations, and includes such statistics as

population size, density, and distribution. Demography The scientific study of human
populations, including their sizes, compositions, distributions, densities, growth, and other
characteristics, as well as the causes and consequences of changes in these factors.

o Conservation of species: Is this species endangered? Species Information, from

Wildlife Service.
o Sustainability of harvest (eg. timber, fisheries) Overfishing has slashed stocks--
especially of large predator species--to an all-time low worldwide, according to
new data. if we don't manage this resource, we will be left with a diet of jellyfish
and plankton stew. Human population growth, demand for fish as food,
demand for hydroelectric power, and mainatining a sustainable salmon
population

Spread of invasive species - An invasive species is a species that is not native to a specific
location (an introduced species), and that has a tendency to spread to a degree believed to cause
damage to the environment, human economy or human health. An invasive species can be any
kind of living organism—an amphibian (like the cane toad), plant, insect, fish, fungus, bacteria,
or even an organism's seeds or eggs—that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm. They
are capable of causing extinctions of native plants and animals, reducing biodiversity, competing
with native organisms for limited resources, and altering habitats.

The term as most often used applies to introduce species that adversely affect the habitats and
bioregions they invade economically, environmentally, or ecologically. Such species may be
either plants or animals and may disrupt by dominating a region, wilderness areas, particular
habitats, or wildland–urban interface land from loss of natural controls (such as predators or
herbivores). This includes plant species labeled as exotic pest plants and invasive exotics
growing in native plant communities.

Common invasive species traits include the following:

 Fast growth
 Rapid reproduction
 High dispersal ability
 Phenotype plasticity (the ability to alter growth form to suit current conditions)
 Tolerance of a wide range of environmental conditions (Ecological competence)
 Ability to live off of a wide range of food types (generalist)
 Association with humans
 Prior successful invasion
 o Economic and urban planning
o Health care and epidemiology is the branch of medicine which deals with the
incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating
to health.

Factors that affect the growth of Populations - What is population "growth"?

o What we might talk about as population size is actually population density, the
number of individuals per unit area (or unit volume).
o Population growth is based on four fundamental factors: birth rate, death rate,
immigration, and emigration.
o Birth Rate (or crude birth rate) The number of live births per 1,000 population
in a given year. Not to be confused with the growth rate.
o Death Rate (or crude death rate) The number of deaths per 1,000 population in
a given year.

 Emigration The process of leaving one country to take up permanent or semipermanent

residence in another.
 Emigration Rate The number of emigrants departing an area of origin per 1,000
population in that area of origin in a given year.
 Immigration The process of entering one country from another to take up permanent or
semipermanent residence.
 Immigration Rate The number of immigrants arriving at a destination per 1,000
population at that destination in a given year.
 Population growth rate = (birth rate + immigration) - (death rate + emigration)-"Per
capita rates" are calculated as the number of events (births, deaths, or growth) divided by
the number of individuals in the population over a specific time period.
 Fertility Rate -The factor which affects the growth of the population in the biggest way
is the fertility rate. The fertility rate is typically measured by the number of children per
one woman of child-bearing age. If the fertility rate is larger than 2, the rule of thumb is
that the population should rise, as there are more children than their parents. On the other
hand, if this ratio is below 2, the population of the region may be destined for a decline.

Mortality Rate - A key factor affecting the growth of the population is the death, or mortality,
rate. Just as the birth of new people increases the population size, deaths decrease it. The factors
that affect the mortality rate include the availability and affordability of quality health care and
lifestyle habits – for example, whether they smoke or do physical exercises regularly.

Death Rate (or crude death rate) The number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year.

Biotic or Intrinsic factors that affect population growth

Population growth is affected by biotic or intrinsic factors that are built into the genetic basis of
each species.
Biotic or Intrinsic factors are specific to each species and include:

 The age of reproductive maturity

 The number of offspring produced per reproductive event
 The number of reproductive events in an individual's lifetime

The three factors above are refered to together as fecundity or

productiveness, or the number of offspring an individual produces in its
lifetime.

Exponential (J-Shaped) Population Growth

-This is the sort of population growth that occurs when only biotic or intrinsic factors affect a
population.
-Exponential growth assumes that environmental factors like food, water supply, space, shelter,
disease organisms, predators, weather conditions, and natural disasters do not affect the birth or
death rate.
-As long as birth rate exceeds death rate (even slightly) population size will increase
exponentially.
-If death rate exceeds, birth rate population size will decrease exponentially. The human
population is growing exponentially.

Environmental Resistance Factors that Affect Birth and Death Rates

Obviously, populations cannot realistically grow exponentially. There are environmental

limits, called environmental resistance factors, that affect the number of individuals
that can survive and reproduce in a given habitat.

Environmental resistance factors fall into two categories: density dependent and
density independent. A population explosion and crash.

Density dependent environmental resistance - Density dependent factors include the

environmental resources needed by the individuals of a population. Competition for food,
water, shelter, etc., results as the population density increases. The survival, health, and
reproduction of individuals will be affected if they cannot acquire the basic requirements
of life.

Density dependent factors ALSO include environmental factors, such as predators,

infectious disease organisms, and parasites that do not necessarily result in competition
for needed resources, but do affect the health, survival, and reproduction of individuals in
the population as population density increases. Individuals that are diseased may have a
reduced ability to reproduce. Dead individuals cannot reproduce.
 Density dependent factors are referred to as Environmental Resistance Factors that
determine the Carrying Capacity of the environment for a population.

Carrying Capacity - "The theoretical maximum number of individuals that an environment can
support for an indefinite time period is its carrying capacity”. Carrying Capacity the
maximum sustainable size of a resident population in a given ecosystem.

Case Fatality Rate The proportion of persons contracting a disease who die from it during a
specified time period.

Case Rate The number of reported cases of a specific disease per 100,000 population in a given
year.

Logistic Population Growth - In the presence of density dependent environmental factors,

population growth is constrained at high population densities. This is because the impact of
density dependent factors depends on the density of the population.

At low population densities, density dependent factors exert little influence on population
growth, which initially grows rapidly. This is to say that individuals have an abundance of
resources so their health is good. They have a high capacity to reproduce and are less likely to
die.

At high population densities, density dependent factors exert an increasing negative effect on
population growth which slows and finally stops at the carrying capacity.

The health of individuals is stressed because of lack of resources, crowding, prevalent diseases,
etc. Their reproductive capacity is reduced and their likelihood of dying is greater.

Density dependent factors therefore produce an S-shaped growth curve.

Density Independent environmental resistance Factors

Density Independent factors are Environmental Resistance Factors that occur or have an
effect on a population regardless of the density of the population.

Density independent factors include weather phenomena and natural disasters that affect the
population, but the chance of their occurrence or level of severity is unrelated to the density of
the population.

Density independent factors may affect the availability of resources that are required by the
population (density dependent factors), indirectly affecting the carrying capacity of the
environment. A hurricane might destroy trees that are the required nesting site for a population
of birds. (from weatherunderground.com)
Cohort A group of people sharing a common temporal demographic experience who are
observed through time. For example, the birth cohort of 1900 is the people born in that year.
There are also marriage cohorts, school class cohorts, and so forth.

Depopulation The state of population decline