THE UPS AND

DOWNS OF
POPULATION
GROWTH
OBJECTIVES:

• Define population
• Explain the relationship between population
growth and carrying capacity
• Suggest ways to minimize human impact on the
environment
• Determine the environmental factors that increase
and decrease populations
Population

•is a group of
organisms of the
same species that live
in a certain area.
• Ecologists study population samples ranging from small ones to larger
ones.
examples: the number of mushrooms living in one tree to large one
such as the entire population of mahogany trees in a given forest.
• Population ecologists examine the different factors that influence
population size, density, distribution, and growth.
• Limiting factor is any condition of the environment that limits the size
of a given population.
Populations have various
characteristics:

Population density Population growth Carrying capacity

Population density

• Is described as the number of

organisms of a given species
per unit area
 Population Growth
• Shows us the trend whether a certain population
is increasing or decreasing.
• Can be affected by:

BIRTH RATE DEATH RATE EMIGRATION AND GEOGRAPHIC SPACE

IMMIGRATION AND AVAILABILITY
• Birth rate – the number of births in a population
• Death rate – the number of organisms that are dying in a population

Birth rate > death rate =

Death rate > birth rate =

The human population of the
Philippines is increasing yearly. This
trend also happens to other countries,
resulting in a continuous increase in
the world population. Among the
different countries in the world, which
country has the greatest population at
present?
There are two models of
Population growth
1. Exponential growth
2. Logistic growth
Exponential population growth
• J-shaped curve
• A population grows without limits at
its maximum rate and that there are
equal rates of emigration and
immigration.
• Occurs ideal condition with unlimited
resources favourable for population to
grow.
• It results into “population explosion”
Carrying capacity
• Maximum number of individuals
that a particular environment
can support over a long period of
time.
• Ex. Bacteria in an agar plate
Logistic population growth
• Characterized by an S-shaped curve
• Decrease in the availability of
resources to be used by the new
individuals.
• Occurs when resources become
scarce
• Graph levels off at carrying capacity
Factors affecting carrying
capacity:
Limiting Factors:
a. Density-dependent limiting factors
b. Density-independent limiting factors
Factors affecting
carrying capacity:
Limiting Factors:
a. Density-dependent limiting
factors
–when a population reaches a
certain number of organisms.
– there is overpopulation and
severe competition for food and
resources, hence decreasing
birth rates and increasing death
rates
Factors affecting
carrying capacity:
Limiting Factors:
b. D e n s i t y - i n d e p e n d e n t
limiting factors
–can stop a population from
growing can be such things as
natural disasters, temperature,
sunlight, and the activities of
humans in the environment
Examples of Density-
independent limiting
factors:

a. weather- hurricanes, droughts,

floods
Examples of Density-
independent limiting
factors:

b. Natural disasters- wildfires,

earthquake, volcanic eruption
DECREASE THE NUMBER OF ORGANISMS IN A
POPULATION
1. What is the carrying capacity? Why?
2. What have you noticed with the population of
rabbit between mid-May and mid-June?
3. Give an example of population that can be found
in your community. Based on your example, what is
population?
Density-dependent limiting factor Density-independent limiting
factor
• Population growth is influenced • Population growth is not
by population density influenced by population density
• Population growth is dependent • Population growth is affected by
on the carrying capacity of the human activities, natural disasters,
environment or habitat and climate
Logistic population growth Exponential population growth

• Population expansion decreases • Population growth is marked by a

as resources become scarce rapid increase
• Population growth stops when  There are plenty of resources
it reaches the carrying capacity of available to support all
the environment. organisms.
 Higher birth than death rate.
As a student, how does your individual consumption
and lifestyle contribute to population growth and
resource depletion, and suggest ways to minimize
human impact on the environment.
"The key to solving the environmental problems we
face today is not to think less about population
growth, but to think more about it in a way that is
sustainable and equitable for all." - Peter Singer
LIMITING FACTORS
THAT DEPEND ON
POPULATION DENSITY
& ENVIRONMENTAL
PROBLEMS AND
ISSUES
LIMITING FACTOR is any condition of the
environment that limits the size of a given
population.
1. Density-dependent factor
2. Density-independent factor
LIMITING FACTORS THAT DEPEND ON POPULATION DENSITY
An analogy for a limiting factor could be a traffic jam on a highway. Just as a
traffic jam can limit the flow of cars on a highway, limiting factors can
restrict the growth and distribution of populations within an ecosystem.

The cars represent individuals within a population, and the highway

represents the environment in which the population lives. Just as traffic can
become congested due to a variety of factors such as road construction,
accidents, or rush hour, populations can experience limited growth due to
factors such as competition for resources, predation, disease, or habitat
destruction.
3. Competition – fighting for
space, food, water, sunlight,
mate, etc.
- Some will survive and
reproduce, some will survive
but NOT reproduce, some will
die.
4. Predation –plenty of prey are
available, predators will be able
to eat sufficiently, thus have
energy to reproduce much, and
increase their numbers
Limitiing factors
that depend on
population
density:
1. Diseases –can cause a
dramatic drop in a
population due to
infestation of a disease.
2. Parasitism –feed at the
expense of their hosts
5. Emigration – when population
approaches its carrying
capacity, and individual
organisms leave and go to a
new area where they can find
enough resources for survival
and reproduction.
Please watch the video: One Earth - Environmental Short Film
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=one+earth+envir
onmental+short+film
As a student, what can you do at home to
promote awareness to your family members?