POPULATION
BIOLOGY
PRINCIPLES OF
POPULATION GROWTH
Increase in size of a population over time.
Bacteria/yeast may be plated on agar in a petri dish
and the colonies counted over time.
Plants or animals may be introduced into a new
environment with plentiful resources and their
growth observed.
HOW FAST DO
POPULATIONS GROW?
Population growth is never linear.
Carrying Capacity
Number of S shaped curve
organisms
TIME
POPULATION GROWTH
LIMITS OF THE
ENVIRONMENT
Limiting factors such as food, space and
water control the size of a population.
“Leveling off” of population results in S-
shaped growth curve.
CARRYING CAPACITY (K) is the
number of organisms that can be
supported in an environment.
Population below K births exceed deaths
Population above K deaths exceed births
PATTERNS OF POPULATION
GROWTH
Rapid life history pattern organisms in an
unpredictable environment.
Mosquito: small body size, mature quickly, reproduce
early, short life span. Population fluctuate rapidly
depending upon conditions.
Long life history pattern organisms living in
stable environments.
Elephants: large, mature and reproduce slowly, longer
life span. Population size near carrying capacity
ENVIRONMENTAL LIMITS
TO GROWTH POPULATION
DENSITY - DEPENDENT FACTORS
Effect increases as population increases
Disease, competition, parasites, food
DENSITY - INDEPENDENT FACTORS
Affects all population regardless of size
Temperature, floods, habitat destruction,
drought
ORGANISM
INTERACTIONS LIMIT
POPULATION
Predation SIZE
Predator-prey relationship cycles:
Ex: lynx and rabbits
Effects of competition
Population low, resources are plentiful, no
problems, as population increases resources
become limited and competition increases.
Effects of crowding and stress
Overcrowding leads to stress. Individuals
become more aggressive, show less parental care,
decreased fertility
HUMAN POPULATION
GROWTH
DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS
Demography: study of human
population growth characteristics.
Demographers study population growth
rate, age structure and geographical
distribution.
Human population has increased exponentially
Humans are able to reduce environmental
effects.
EFFECTS OF BIRTHRATES
AND DEATH RATES
Slow population growth rate if deaths,
exceed births
Fast population growth rate if births
exceed deaths
DOES AGE AFFECT
POPULATION GROWTH?
A population with more young than old
people will grow faster than the reverse.
Age structure is shown on graphs and helps
predict growth rate of population
Broader base has faster population that is
increasing
AGE STRUCTURE
GRAPHS
MOBILITY HAS AN
EFFECT ON
POPULATION SIZE
Immigration: movement of individuals
into an area.
Emigration: movement of individuals
out of a population
International migration does not affect
world population
National and local populations are
affected by internal migrations
http://galen.metapath.org/popclk.html
