JOURNAL QUESTION:

• What limits population growth?

Carrying capacity
 ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED QUIZ:
• Tear out workbook pages 72-74
Chapter 5
Populations
 1. Growth rate/Age Structure
• A population’s growth rate determines
whether the size of the population increases,
decreases, or stays the same.

• Age structure is the number of males and

females of each age within a population.
• This is important because most plants and animals
cannot reproduce until they reach a certain age.
What factors affect population growth?
• Birthrate – populations grow if more individuals are
born than die in any period of time. If birth rate =
death rate the population will stay the same.
• Death rate – If death rate is higher than birth rate
the population will decline.
• Immigration – when individuals move into a range.
Population INCREASE
• Emigration – when individuals move out of a range.
Population DECREASE
 Exponential Growth
*Exponential growth the
larger a population gets
the faster it grows.
*occurs in nature only
when there is plenty of
food and space, and have
no competition or
predators.
*For example, population
explosions occur when
bacteria or molds grow on
a new source of food.
 Logistic Growth
• Occurs when a populations growth slows and
then stops, following a period of exponential
growth.
– EX: Growth rate can slow because the populations
birth rate decreases.
Carrying Capacity
 Limiting Factors
• Limiting factor - is a factor that controls the
growth of a population.
– Limiting factors determine the carrying capacity of
an environment for a species.
• Competition
• Predation
• Parasitism
• Unusual weather
• Natural disasters
 Density-Dependent Factors
• Operate strongly only when population
density ( number) of organisms per unit area
reach a certain level.
• Include:
– Competition, Predation, herbivory, parasitism,
disease, and stress from over crowding.
 Density Dependent
• Competition - when individuals compete for food.
• Predation - predators and prey
• Herbivory - effects herbivores on plants.
• Parasitism and Disease - parasites and disease- causing
organisms feed at the expense of their host, weakening
them often causing disease of death.
• Stress - some species fight amongst themselves if
overcrowded. To much fighting causes high levels of
stress and weakens the body.
Density-Dependent Factors
 Population Regulation
When a cause of death in a population is
density dependent, deaths occur more
quickly in a crowded population than in a
sparse population.

Limited resources, predation and disease

result in higher rates of death in dense
populations than in sparse populations.
 Density Independent Factors
• Affect all populations in similar ways,
regardless of population size and density.
– Unusual weather (hurricanes, droughts)
– Natural disasters (wild fire)
• In response a population may CRASH. After the crash
the population may build up again quickly, or it may
stay low for some time.

• Ex: A sever drought can kill off great numbers of fish in

a river. Pg 141
 Population
Size

can be limited by
density-independent
factors such as
 Human Population Growth
• Demography - the study of human population
growth.

• Birthrates, death rates, and the age structure

of a population help predict why some
countries have a high growth rate while other
counties grow more slowly.
 Demographic Transition
• A dramatic change from high birth rates and
death rates to low birth rates and death rates.
Male Female

A
G
E

Population