Unit 2: Population Ecology

Population

All the individuals of a species that live together in an area

Limiting Factors

Any part of an ecosystem that prevents population growth ( Biotic and Abiotic)

Biotic Factors

living parts of an ecosystem

Abiotic Factors

nonliving parts of an ecosystem

Population Size

How many individuals make up a population

Population Density

Measurement of population per unit area or unit volume (# of individuals/unit of space)

Population Dispersion

Describes the spacing of organisms relative to each other

Exponential Growth

When resources are unlimited (J shaped curve)

Logistic growth

When resources are limited (S shaped curve)

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources

Clumped Dispersion Pattern

a pattern in which the individuals of a population are aggregated in patches

Random Dispersion Pattern

a pattern in which the individuals of a population are spaced in an unpredictable way

Uniform Dispersion Pattern

a pattern in which the individuals of a population are evenly distributed over an area

Immigration

Migration to a new location

Emmigration

movement of individuals out of a population

Natality (birth rate)

ability of a population to increase; reproductive rate

Mortality (death rate)

The number of deaths in a population in a certain amount of time

r-strategist

reproduce early in life; many small unprotected offspring

k-strategist

reproduce late in life; few offspring; care for offspring

intraspecific competition

competition between members of the same species

interspecific competition

competition between members of different species

survivorship curve

Graph showing the number of survivors in different age groups for a particular species.