Chapter 54: Ecology of individuals and populations

Short term responses

from a few minutes to an individuals lifetime

long term responses

natural selection can operate to make a population better adapted to the environemnt

coping mechanisms: physiological responses

sweating, increased erythrocyte production, “making antifreeze”

coping mechanisms: morphological capabilities

endotherms have adaptations that minimize energy expenditure, thick fur coats during the winter

coping mechanisms: behavioral responses

moving from one habitat to another

what are the three characteristics of population ecology?

population range, pattern of spacing of individuals, how population changes in size through time

random spacing

individuals do not interact strongly with one another, not common in nature

uniform spacing

behavioral interactions, resource competition, fairly common

clumped spacing

uneven distribution of resources, common in nature

metapopulation dispersal

small scale, working out well so they moved somewhere else

source-sink metapopulations

mother population to metapopulations, and then metapops could send out thier own dispersers, sink populations = not good, not able to create new

cohort

group of individuals of the same age

fecundity

ability to reproduce a number of offspring in a certain time period

mortality

death rate

survivorship

percent of an original population that survives to a given age

R selected populations

dont give care, produce more, less likely to survive

K selected populations

give care, produce much less, more likely to survive

age at first reproduction

correlates with life span, long lives delay reproduction

carrying capacity

the maximum number of individuals that the environment can support

density-dependent factors

disease

density independent factors

natural disasters (ex. a flood, a room will flood regardless of how many people are in the room)