Populations PowerPoint

A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area
- How big a population is and how fat it is growing is a indicator of its health
Variation in Populations
(The level of variation in a population affects its resiliency)
- California condors were once at 22. As of 2014 there are now at 410. If a disease
were to infect one, it would likely infect them all
- Potato blight in Ireland led to a potato famine due to very little genetic diversity in
potatoes grown there
Ecosystem vs Habitat vs Niche
- Ecosystem: all the organism and abiotic factors in a geographic are
- Habitat: All aspects of the area in which an organism lives
o Biotic factors
o Abiotic factors
- Niche: How an organism fits into that ecosystem; factors a species needs to stay
healthy and reproduce
o Food
o Abiotic conditions
o Behavior Patterns (ie predator)
Video
- Example:
o Ecosystem: Serengeti-Mara
 Abiotic Factors: Climate, Water, etc.
 Geography
o Habitats: An area that is suitable for an organism to live in it
 Lion (safari)
 Jaguar (woodlands)
o Niche: The role that is played by an ecosystem
 Hunt larger animal (lion)
 Hunt smaller animals (cheetah)
 Different Niche
Competitive Exclusion
(Species share same habitat and resources; Competitive exclusion keep two species from
occupying the same niche – two organisms cannot occupy the same niche)
- One species is better suited and other is pushed out or becomes extinct
o Competitive Advantage
- The niche will be divided
Characteristics of Populations
- Geographic Distribution
- Populations Abundance
- Size
- Density
- Growth Rate
Geographic Distribution or Range: Area Inhabited by a population

Patterns in Distribution
(Interactions between and within populations can influence patterns distributions and
abundance)
Example: Resource distribution and differences in survival techniques
- Clumped: Most species live this way; patchy distribution of resources
- Uniform: Typical of species competing for scarce resources
- Random: Usually species that do not interact strongly

Population Density
(Number of Individuals per unit area… how crowded a population is)
- Populations Size: The number of individuals in a population and the influences the
chances of the species going extinct
Population Growth
(Populations densities are dynamic)
- Births
- Deaths
- Immigration
- Emigration

Immigration vs Emigration
(Coming in and Going out)
- Immigration: population increase
- Emigration: population decrease

Populations Size: Population Change =(Birth + Immigration) – (Deaths +Emigration)

Exponential Growth
(Reproduction with unrestricted constraints… what would happen if you gave a population all
the food and water it needed protected it from predators, gave it all the space in the world and
then left it alone)

Logistic Growth
Slowly but eventually reach the carrying capacity (the greatest number of individuals in a
population which can be supported by the resources in their environment)
- Most populations rarely reach their carry capacity and remains stable.
- The often overshoot their carry capacity and then experience a die off

Calculation Growth Rates

- Births – deaths = change in population size (B – D=dN/dt)
- Per capita a d death rate (lowercase b and d)
o Birth/number of individuals =birth rate (b)
o Deaths/number of individuals =death rate (de)
o
 Type I: Parents provide care to few offspring usually make it to adulthood: most mammals
Type II: Moderate number of offspring and some care deaths come more uniformly: asexual
species and birds
Type III: Large number of offspring and little care, large numbers die young (plants,
invertebrates, fish)
Evolutionary Strategies Toward Reproductive Success
- R-selected Species
o Large number of smaller offspring with litter parental care
o Unstable environments, cheap offspring
o
- K-selected Species
o Smaller number of offspring, more parental care

Limits to Growth (Populations decrease)

Density Dependent Limiting Factors

- Operate when population is large/dense or
competition/territoriality/predation/parasitism/disease
- Cause population to decrease

Competition
- When packed together organisms fight for resources (water, food, sunlight
- Within or between species

Predation
- Regulation of population by predation
o Predator populations as prey populations increase and prey pop. Increase
and prey populations decrease with predators
Parasitism and Disease
- Take nourishment from their host and they live in dense population

Density Independent Factors

- Affect all populations in similar ways
- Natural or abiotic (human activities)
- Response: Population crash and different recovering rates
- Abiotic factors: weather and natural disasters
- Seasonal Cycles
- Human Activity
Communities (Interaction Within and Among Species) PowerPoint

Types of Interactions
(Organism encounter and interact with individuals of other species, affecting its success in
surviving and reproducing. Interactions may be Positive, Negative, or no effect)

Interspecific Interactions
(Interactions which contribute to a populations growth rate by affecting fitness (survival and
reproduction)
1) Interspecific Competition
2) Consumer-Resource Interactions
3) Mutualism
4) Commensalism
Ecological Niche: The sum total of biotic and abiotic resources used by an organism in an
environment.

Interspecific Competition
(Members of different species may decrease one another’s fitness because they require the
same resources limiting resources)

Consumer Resource Interaction

(Organisms gain their nutrition by consuming other living organism or are themselves es eaten:
predation, herbivory, parasitism

Mutualism
(Both organism benefit: populations of both survive and/or reproduce at a higher rate in each
other’s presence)

Commensalism
(One organism benefit, white the other is unaffected)
- Whales and Barnacles

Interactions Within and Among Species Can Lead to Evolution

(Because not tow individuals are alike interactions vary in their contribution to a population’s
overall growth rate (fitness))
- Competition may result in resource partitioning within species

Competitive Exclusion Principle: No two species can exist in the same location if their niches are
identical

Resource Partitioning: In order to coexist, species will have slight differences in their niches, ie,
anole lizards in Hispaniola
Species Interactions can lead to Evolutionary Adaptations
(Interactions between predator and prey are some of the most powerful evolutionary driving
forces)
- Prey must find a way to not get eaten and Predator must find a way to eat

Defensive Strategies
- Cryptic coloring
- Speed to avoid being eaten

Mechanical/Chemical Defensives
- Mechanical: Physical
- Chemical: Chemicals

Living in Groups or using alarm calls

Aposematic Coloration
(Poisonous animals are brightly colored to ward predators)

Batesian Mimicry
(Harmless species mimic a dangerous or unpalatable species)
- Coral and King Snake

Offensive Strategies
- Fangs, claws, teeth,
- Cryptic coloring
- Poisons and Stingers to subdue prey
- Electromagnetic Sensors
- Heat sensing organs in snake
Evolutionary Theory
- A change in the genetic makeup of a population over time: See influenza in natural
populations
- Darwin wasn’t the first person to discover evolution
o Heritable variation
 Primary source: mutation and genetic recombination

o Selection: Competition for limited resources in prevelant. Individuals with

more favorable phenotypes are more likely to survive and reproduce
 Descent with modification to the gene pool over time
- Misconception: Geneticall modified food is NOT a recent invention:human have
been manipulating heritable information for 1000 of years in pet and crops and
livestock
- Evolution have not stop, natural selection works on populations NOT individuals
- Rec. alleles are not weak or isappear over time. Natural selection maintains
favorable alleles whether dominant or recessive.
- Mutation with only a 10% advantage can grow for a tiny number to 95% of the
population in just a few hundred years
- Most traits arise out of mutation
- “need, try and wat” are not accurate when explaining evolution

Evolutionary Success: Natural drives genetic diversity

- Fitness is a measure or reproductive success: how many offspring are produced and
are in turn able to survive and reproduce