15 Population Ecology

BIOL 1510, FA13, September 23, 2013

Goals: Population Ecology
Understand the factors that lead to changes in
population size
Be able to interpret population life tables
Understand the importance of population
growth rates and how they are calculated
Realize the importance of population data in
evaluating the viability status of species


Why study Population Ecology?

Farming

Disease transmission and control

Natural resource management

Endangered species

Introduced species

Effects of climate change

How human populations will change with time
Introduction to populations
A population is a group of individuals from the same
species that live in the same area at the same time.

Population ecology is the study of how and why the
number of individuals in a population changes over time.

The mathematical and analytical tools used in population
ecology help biologists predict changes in population size
and design management strategies to save threatened
species.
Demography
The number of individuals present in a
population depends on four processes: birth,
death, immigration, and emigration.
Demography is the study of factors that
determine the size and structure of populations
through time.
A life table summarizes the probability that an
individual will survive and reproduce in any
given time interval over the course of its
lifetime.

x n
x
l
x
m
x


l
x
m
x
Life Tables:
individuals probability of survival
and reproduction over a lifetime
European live-bearing lizard
Survivorship curves: The survivorship curve is a plot of the
logarithm of the number of survivors versus age.

Age specific fecundity is the number of female
offspring produced by each female and is critical
to determining growth rate of a population.
Population Growth
The most fundamental questions that biologists ask
about populations involve growth or decline in
numbers.
For conservationists, analyzing and predicting changes
in population size is fundamental to managing
threatened species.
A populations overall growth rate is a function of birth
rates, death rates, immigration rates, and emigration
rates.
Quantifying the Growth Rate
A populations growth rate is the change in the number
of individuals in the population (AN) per unit time (At).

If no immigration or emigration is occurring:
growth rate = AN/At = N r

The per-capita rate of increase (r) is the difference
between the birth rate and death rate per individual.
r = b d
Population Growth: unlimited?
Exponential growth: Unlimited growth represents a
special case where r = r
max


dN
dt
= rN
K N
K
|
\

|
.
|
But usually, populations ARE limited.
Logistic growth describes this
Density affects survival and reproduction
14
When is population growth rate the highest?
Campbell 8th Table 53.3 Freeman 4th Fig 52.7a
Does logistic growth occur in real
populations?
from Pratt 1943
Daphnia pulex
Life history questions
How long should/will I live?
When should I reproduce?
How often should I reproduce?
How many kids should I have?
Survival + Reproduction = Fitness
2011 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Population cycles
Some populations show periodic
fluctuations on regular intervals
Lynx and Hare trapping records kept by the Hudson
Bay Company
Metapopulations how migration can save a
population from disaster (local extinction)
20
21
Metapopulations how migration can save a
population from disaster (local extinction)
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Metapopulations how migration can save a
population from disaster (local extinction)
Age Structure in Human Populations
The age structure of human populations in different countries,
which varies dramatically, can be represented by age pyramids
graphs with horizontal bars representing the numbers of males
and females of each age group.

The age structure of a population tends to be uniform in
developed countries and bottom-heavy in developing countries.

Analyzing an age pyramid can give biologists important
information about a populations history, and also help them
predict a populations future.

How Large Is the Current Human Population?
In 2009, the world population is estimated at over 6.8 billion, and
about 77 million additional people are being added each year.

It is not possible to overstate the consequences to us and to
the planet of these recent and current increases in human
population.

In addition to being the primary cause of habitat loss and species
extinction, overpopulation is linked to declines in living
standards, political instability, and acute shortages of basic
resources.