POPULATIONDYNAMICS

CHAPTER3

MAJORCHARACTERISTICS
OFAPOPULATION
POPULATIONSAREALWAYS
CHANGING:

SIZE
DENSITY
DISPERSIONclumped,uniform,random
AGEDISTRIBUTION

THESECHANGESARECALLED
POPULATIONDYNAMICS

Clumped
(elephants)

Uniform
(creosote bush)

Random
(dandelions)

Fig. 9.2, p. 199

LimitstoPopulationgrowth

NATALITYBIRTH
MORTALITYDEATH
IMMIGRATIONMOVEMENTIN
EMIGRATIONMOVEMENTOUT
POPULATIONCHANGE=
(BIRTH+IMMIGRATIONDEATH+
EMIGRATION)

ZEROPOPULATION
GROWTH(ZPG)
WHENTHENUMBEROF
INDIVIDUALSADDEDFROM
BIRTHSANDIMMIGRATION
EQUALSTHENUMBERLOSTTO
DEATHSANDEMIGRATION

BIOTICPOTENTIAL
ALLTHEFACTORSWHICHCAUSEA
POPULATIONTOINCREASEIN
GROWTH
INTRINSICRATEOFINCREASE(r)
THERATEATWHICHAPOPULATION
WOULDGROWONUNLIMITED
RESOURCES

POPULATIONSWITHHIGH
INTRINSICRATEOFINCREASE
REPRODUCEEARLYIN
LIFE
HAVESHORT
GENERATIONTIMES
CANREPRODUCE
MANYTIMES
HAVEMANY
OFFSPRINGEACHTIME
THEYREPRODUCE.
EXAMPLEHOUSEFLY

ENVIRONMENTAL
RESISTANCE
ALLTHEFACTORSTHATLIMITTHE
GROWTHOFAPOPULATION
ENVIRONMENTALRESISTANCE+
BIOTICPOTENTIALDETERMINE
CARRYINGCAPACITY(K)
NUMBEROFINDIVIDUALSOFASPECIES
THEENVIRONMENTCANSUSTAIN
INDEFINITELY

MINIMUMVIABLE
POPULATION(MVP)
MINIMUMPOPULATIONSIZE
BELOWTHIS
INDIVIDUALSMAYNOTBEABLETO
FINDMATES
MAYHAVEINTERBREEDINGAND
PRODUCEWEAKOFFSPRING
GENETICDIVERSITYMAYBETOOLOW
TOENABLEADAPTATIONTONEW
ENVIRONMENTALCONDITIONS.

EXPONENTIALVS.LOGISTIC
GROWTH
EXPONENTIALGROWTHSTARTSOUT
SLOWLYANDPROCEEDSFASTERAND
FASTER
FORMSAJSHAPEDCURVE

LOGISTICGROWTHINVOLVES
EXPONENTIALUNTILPOPULATION
ENCOUNTERSENVIRONMENTALRESISTANCE
ANDAPPROACHESCARRYINGCAPACITY.
THENPOPULATIONFLUCTUATES
FORMSASIGMOIDORSSHAPEDCURVE

Population size (N)

Population size (N)

Time (t)
Exponential Growth

Time (t)
Logistic Growth

Fig. 9.4, p. 201

WHENPOPULATIONSEXCEED
CARRYINGCAPACITY
SOMETIMESOVERSHOOT
HAPPENSBECAUSEOFAREPRODUCTIVE
TIMELAGPERIODNEEDEDFORBIRTH
RATESTOFALLANDDEATHRATESTO
RISE
HAVEADIEBACKORCRASH
UNLESSORGANISMSCANMOVEOFSWITCH
TONEWRESOURCES
EASTERISLANDANEXAMPLEOFTHIS

Number of sheep (millions)

2.0

1.5

1.0

.5

1800

1825

1850

1875
Year

1900

1925

Fig. 9.5, p. 201

WHATAFFECTSCARRYING
CAPACITY?
COMPETITIONWITHINAND
BETWEENSPECIES
IMMIGRATIONANDEMIGRATION
NATURALANDHUMANCAUSED
CATASTROPHICEVENTS
SEASONALFLUTUATIONINFOOD,
WATER,COVER,ANDNESTINGSITES.

EFFECTSOFPOPULATION
DENSITY
DENSITYINDEPENDENT
POPULATIONCONTROLS
AFFECTAPOPULATIONREGARDLESS
OFPOPULATIONSIZE
FLOODS,HURRICANES,SEVERE
DROUGHT,UNSEASONABLEWEATHER,
FIRE,HABITATDESTRUCTION

 DENSITYDEPENDENTPOPULATION
CONTROLS
HAVEAGREATEREFFECTAS
POPULATIONDENSITYINCREASES:
COMPETITIONFORRESOURCES,
PREDATION,PARASITISM,DISEASE
EXAMPLE:INFECTIOUSDISEASES

TYPESOFPOPULATION
FLUCTUATIONS
STABLEFLUCTUATESABOVEANDBELOW
CARRYINGCAPACITY
TROPICALRAINFOREST

IRRUPTIVEFAIRLYSTABLETHANEXPLODES
RACOONS

IRREGULARNOSETPATTERN
SIMILARTOCHAOS

CYCLICNOREALEXPLANATION
LEMMINGS

Irregular

Number of individuals

Stable

Cyclic

Irruptive
Time

Fig. 9.7, p. 202

HOWPREDATORSCONTROL
POPULATIONSIZE
PREDATORPREYCYCLESPOORLY
UNDERSTOOD
SHARPINCREASEINNUMBERS
FOLLOWEDBYCRASHES
LYNXANDHARESINARCTIC

TOPDOWNCONTROLHYPOTHESIS
LYNXCONTROLHARESANDLACKOF
HARESCONTROLLYNXPOPULATION

 BOTTOMUPCONTROL
HYPOTHESIS
HARESEATTOOMANYPLANTSTHEIR
POPULATIONDROPSTHENLYNX
POPULATIONDROPSALSO.

COULDBEATHREEWAY
INTERACTIONBETWEENPLANTS,
HARES,ANDLYNXES.

5,000
Moose population
Wolf population

3,000
100
90
80

2,000

70
60

1,000

50
40

500

20

1900 1910

30

1930

1950

Year

1970

1990 2000

Number of wolves

Number of moose

4,000

10
0
Fig. 9.9, p. 204

1997

REPRODUCTIVEPATTERNS
ASEXUALREPRODUCTIONALL
OFFSPRINGARECLONESOFASINGLE
PARENT
BACTERIA

SEXUALREPRODUCTIONCOMBINATION
OFGAMETESFROMBOTHPARENTS
97%OFALLORGANISMSREPRODUCE
SEXUALLY
GIVESGREATERGENETICDIVERSITYIN
ORRSPRING

RSELECTEDSPECIES
GENERALISTS
SPECIESREPRODUCEEARLYANDPUT
MOSTOFTHEIRENERGYINTO
REPRODUCTION
HAVEMANYOFFSPRINGEACHTIMETHEY
REPRODUCE
REACHREPRODUCTIVEAGEEARLY
HAVESHORTGENERATIONTIMES
GIVEOFFSPRINGLITTLEORNOPARENTAL
CARE
ARESHORTLIVED

KSELECTEDSPECIES
COMPETITORS
PUTLITTLEENERGYINTO
REPRODUCTION
TENDTOREPRODUCELATEINLIFE
AREFAIRLYLARGE
MATURESLOWLY
ARECAREDFORBYONEORBOTH
PARENTS
MANYAREPRONETOEXTINCTION

 Kselectedspeciesdobetterinecosystems
withfairlyconstantenvironmental
conditions
Tendtodowellincompetitiveconditionswhen
theirpopulationsizeisnearcarryingcapacity
(K)

Rselectedspeciesthriveinecosystemsthat
experiencedisturbances

CONSERVATIONBIOLOGY
MULTIDISCIPLINARYSCIENCE
INVESTIGATESHUMANIMPACTSON
BIODIVERSITY
DEVELOPSPRACTICALAPPROACHESTO
MAINTAININGBIODIVERSITY
VERYCONCERNEDWITHENDANGERED
SPECIES,WILDLIFERESERVES,
ECOLOGICALRESTORATION,AND
ECOLOGICALECONOMICS.

WILDLIFEMANAGEMENT
DEALSMAINLYWITHGAMESPECIES

PRINCIPLESOF
CONSERVATIONBIOLOGY
BIODIVERSITYISNECESSARYFOR
ALLLIFEONEARTH
HUMANSSHOULDNOTHARMOR
HASTENEXTINCTIONOFWILDLIFE
THEBESTWAYTOPROTECT
BIODIVERSITYISTOPROTECT
ECOSYSTEMS.

BIOINFORMATICS
PROVIDESTOOLSFORSTORAGE
ANDACCESSTOKEYBIOLOGICAL
INFORMATIONANDWITHBUILDING
DATABASESTHATCONTAINTHE
NEEDEDBIOLOGICAL
INFORMATION.

SURVIVORSHIPCURVES
SHOWTHENUMBEROFSURVIVORSOF
EACHAGEGROUPFORAPARTICULAR
SPECIES
SELECTACOHORT
FOLLOWTHEMTHROUGHOUTTHEIRLIFE
SPAN
SHOWSLIFEEXPECTANCYAND
PROBABILITYOFDEATHFOR
INDIVIDUALSATEACHAGE.

Percentage surviving (log scale)

100

10

Age
Fig. 9.11, p. 206

 THREETYPESOFSURVIVORSHIP
CURVES:
EARLYLOSStypicalforrselectedspecies
Annualplants&bonyfish
MANYDIEVERYEARLYINLIFE

LATELOSSKselectedspecies
Producefewoffspringandcareforthem

CONSTANTLOSSintermediatereproductive
patterns

Humanseffectsonecosystems

Fragmenting&degradingecosystems
Simplifyingnaturalecosystems
Wastingordestroyingearthsnetprimaryproductivity
Strengtheningsomepestspecies,etc.byoverusing
pesticidesandantibiotics
Eliminatingsomepredators
Introducingalienspecies
Overharvestingrenewableresources
Interferingwithbiogeochemicalcyclesandenergyflow