Population Ecology Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core population ecology concepts, including distribution, dispersion patterns, population growth models, carrying capacity, and limiting factors.

Distribution area / range of habitation

The geographical and ecological (elevation) range where an organism lives.

Dispersion

The ways of spread of a population across its range.

Patterns of dispersion

Spatial patterns of spread, categorized as clumped, uniform, or random.

Age structure

A population characteristic used to study why only a subset of a population is reproducing.

Intrinsic growth rate

How fast a population can grow when nothing is holding it back, also known as exponential growth.

Carrying capacity ($K$)

The maximum population an environment can handle.

Limiting factors

Attributes that influence carrying capacity, such as water, space, food, predators, competition, disease, predation, and pathogens.