ROMAN C. VILLALON MEMORIAL COLLEGES FOUNDATION, INC.

Kibawe, Bukidnon
First Semester – A.Y 2022

SUBJECT: “People and the Earth’s Ecosystem”

Chapter 1: Population Characteristics
Lesson 1- Population Growth

 What is Population?
o A population consists of a group of interbreeding or potentially interbreeding organisms found in the
same space or area at the same time
 Population Ecology
o The study of populations and how they changed over time
o It studies the spatial and temporal patterns in the abundance and distribution of organisms and the
mechanisms that produce those patterns.
o The study of population ecology includes understanding, explanation, and prediction of population
growth, regulation, and dynamics or demography.
 Most of the time what is included in the population ecology are the multicellular organisms that are being
classified into two: unitary organisms and modular organisms
o Unitary Organisms – the form is highly determinate consisting usually of a strictly defined number of
parts (such as legs or wings) established only during embryogenesis.
o Modular Organisms - neither timing nor form is predictable. They usually have a branching structure and
an overall shape that is highly variable and determined mainly by environmental influences. There are
also two types of modular organisms- a genet and a ramet.
 Genet – single genetic individual. In plants, it is an individual that has arisen from a seed.
 Ramet – can consists of many modules. In plants, it refers to a new plant that has arisen through
vegetative propagation and is now a completely independent plant with its own roots and shoots.

 POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
o Population has several characteristics or attributes which are a function of the whole group and not of the
individual. Different populations can be compared by measuring these attributes. These attributes are
population density, natality, mortality, distributions, etc. The study of the group characteristics of a
population, their changes over time, and the prediction of future changes are known as demography.
1. Population Density
 The size of the population is represented by its fundamental property called density. It is
generally expressed as the number of individuals or the population biomass per unit area
or volume.
o Two Types of Densities
 Crude Density - Crude density is the density per unit of total space. Generally,
populations do not occupy all the space as a whole because all areas may not be
habitable.
 Specific (or Ecological) Density- Specific density is the density per unit of
habitable space. It includes only that portion of total space that can actually be
colonized by the population.
o Determining Population Size - Population size can be measured by several methods:
 Abundance - Absolute number of individuals in the population.
 Numerical Density- Number of individuals per unit area or volume. It is
expressed when the size of individuals in the population is relatively uniform, as
in mammals, insects, and birds.
 Biomass Density- Biomass density is expressed in terms of wet weight, dry
weight, volume, and carbon and nitrogen weight per unit area or volume.
o Calculation of the population density
N
Population density can be calculated by the following equation: Dp=
A
Where Dp is the density of population, N is the total population of several people,
and A is the land area covered by that population. The unit of land area should be
square miles or square kilometers.
2. Natality
 Refers to the rate of reproduction or birth per unit time. It is also commonly known as “birth
rate”. It is an expression of the production of new individuals in the population by birth,
hatching, germination, or fission.
 Calculation of the Birth rate or Natality
number of births per year
Birthrate∨Natality ( B )= x 100
number of population per year
  The maximum number of births produced per individual under ideal conditions of the
environment is called potential natality. It is also called reproductive or biotic potential,
absolute natality, or maximum natality.
3. Mortality (Death Rate)
 Mortality refers to the number of deaths for every 1,000 people per year. The death rate is
correlated with the conditions of the country, for example, with the levels of prosperity,
health, or the occurrence of war.
 Calculation of the Death Rate or Mortality
number of birth per year
Mortality rate= x 100
number of population per year
 Mortality can be expressed in the following ways:
o Minimum or Specific or Potential Mortality
 It represents the minimum of theoretical loss of individuals under ideal or
non-limiting conditions. Thus, even under the best conditions individuals of
a population would die of old age determined by their physiological
longevity. So, it is constant for a population.
o Ecological or Realized Mortality
 - It refers to the death of individuals of a population under existing
environmental conditions. Since it varies with environmental conditions,
it is never constant. The maximum mortality occurs at the egg, larval,
seedling and old age. Mortality is affected by a number of factors, such as,
density, competition, disease, predation and environment. Death rates vary
among the species and are correlated with birth rates. When the rate of
natality is equal to the rate of mortality the population is stationary. A birth
death ratio (Births/death x 100) is called vital index. For a population,
thesurvival of individuals is more important than the death. The number
of births in relation to the carrying capacity of the habitat is a fundamental
factor influencing the mortality rate. When more young’s are born than the
habitat can support, the surplus must either die or leave the area. Because the
number of survivors is more important than the number of dying individuals,
mortality is better expressed as survival or as life expectancy. The life
expectancy refers to the average number of years the members of a
population have left to live
4. Population Growth
 The growth is one of the dynamic features of species population. Population size
increases in a characteristic way. When the number of individuals of population is plotted
on the y-axisand the times on the x-axis, a curve is obtained that indicates the
trend in the growth of population size in a given time. This curve is called population
growth curve
 Two types of growth curves:
o Sigmoid Curve (S-Curve)
 When a few organisms are introduced in an area, the population increase
is very slow in the beginning (positive acceleration phase or lag phase),
in the middle phase, the population increase becomes very
rapid(logarithmic phase) and finally in thelast phas population increase
is slowed down (negative acceleration phase) until anequilibrium is
attained and which the population size fluctuates according
tovariability of environment. The level beyond which no major
increase can occur isreferred to as saturation level or carrying
capacity. In the last phase the neworganisms are almost equal to the
number of dying individuals and thus there is noincrease in
population size. In this way, one gets sigmoid or 5-shaped growth
curve.
 o J- shaped Curve
 The second type of growth curve is J-shaped. Here n the first phase
there is no increase population size because it needs some time
for adjustment in the new environment. Soon after the population is
established in the new environment, itstarts multiplying rapidly. This
increase in population is continued till large amount offood materials
exist in the habitat. After some time, due to increase in population
size,food supply in the habitat becomes limited which ultimately
results in decrease inpopulation size. This will result in J-shaped
growth curve rather than S-shaped

5. Age Distribution
 Age distribution is another important characteristic population which influences natality
and mortality. Mortality, usually varies with age, as chances of death are more in early
and later periods of lifespan. Similarly, natality is restricted to certain age groups, as for
example, in middle age-groups in higher animals. According to Bodenheimer
(1958), the individuals of a population can be divided into pre-reproductive,
reproductive and post-reproductive groups. The individuals of pre-reproductive
group are young, those of reproductive are mature and those in post-reproductive
group are old. The distribution of ages may be constant or variable. It is directly
related to the growth rate of the population. Depending upon the proportion of the
three age-groups, populations can be said to be growing, mature or stable and
diminishing. In other words, the ratio of various age groups in a population
determines the reproductive status of the population. Rapidly increasing population
contains a large proportion of young individuals, a stable population shows even
distribution of individuals in reproductive age-group and a declining population
contains a large proportion of old individuals.
6. Population Fluctuations
 The size and density of natural population show a changing pattern over a period of time.
This is called population fluctuation.
 There are three types of variations in the pattern of population change:
1. Non- Fluctuating - When the population remains static over the years, it is said to be
non-fluctuating.
2. Cyclic - The cyclic variations may be (a) seasonal, and (b) annual. Sometimes
seasonal changes occur in the population and there are additions to the population at
the time of maximum reproduction and losses under adverse climatic conditions.
Common examples of seasonal variations are met in mosquitoes and houseflies
which area abundant in a particular season and so also the weeds in the field during
the rainy season. When the population of a species shows regular ups and downs over
the years, it is called annual cyclic variation. It appears in the form of a sigmoid
curve with regular drops in population after peaks
3. Irruptive - When the anger in population density does not occur at regular
intervals or in response to any obvious environmental factor, it is said to be irruptive
fluctuation. In this there is a sudden exponential or logarithmic increase in
 population density in short time followed by equally quick drop in population
density due to deaths, and final return to normal level or even below that level.

Task:
Using the internet look up the following information in regards to the characteristics of the population in the Philippines:
(1) (a.) Crude density, (b) Birth Rate / Natality , (c) Death Rate/ Mortality, (d) Age Distribution
(2) Based on the data that you have gathered. How would it most likely affect the country, especially with the current
situation that we are facing in our economy? Do you think that it will affect the crime rate in the Philippines?