Unit 3: Populations Vocabulary

Flashcards connected to AP Environmental Science Unit 3 Topics

Generalist species

A species with a broad niche that is easily adaptable to many environmental conditions.

Specialist species

A species that is adapted to a specific habitat, resource, niche, or environmental condition.

Biotic potential

The maximum reproductive capacity of a population under ideal conditions.

K-Strategists

Organisms that produce a small number of offspring with a low mortality rate.

r-Strategists

Organisms that produce a large number of offspring with a high mortality rate.

Invasive Species

A non-native organism that is introduced to an ecosystem and causes or is likely to cause harm.

Type I survivorship curve

A pattern of survival over time in which there is high survival throughout most of the lifespan, but then individuals start to die in large numbers as they approach old age; also known as late loss.

Type II survivorship curve

A pattern of survival over time in which there is a relatively constant decline in survivorship throughout most of the life span; also known as constant loss.

Type III survivorship curve

A pattern of survival over time in which there is low survivorship early in life, with few individuals reaching adulthood; also known as early loss.

Carrying capacity (K)

The maximum population size that an environment can support indefinitely.

Dieback

A rapid decline in a population due to death.

Population overshoot

When a population becomes larger than the environment's carrying capacity.

Density-dependent factors

Factors that limit population growth as the population density increases (e.g., competition, predation, disease).

Density-independent factors

Factors that limit population growth regardless of population density (e.g., natural disasters, extreme weather).

Environmental Resistance

All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem.

Intrinsic growth rate

The maximum potential for growth of a population under ideal conditions with unlimited resources.

Corridor

Strips of natural habitat that connect populations.

Climax species

Plant species that are well-adapted to stable environments and dominate the final stage of ecological succession, known as the climax community.

Clumped dispersion

Dispersion pattern where individuals in a population are clustered in groups.

Community

All of the populations or organisms in a given area.

Limiting resource

A resource that a population cannot live without and that occurs in quantities lower than the population would require to increase in size.

J-shaped curve

The curve of the exponential growth model when graphed.

Logistic growth model

Population growth that slows down as the population approaches its carrying capacity, resulting in an S-shaped curve.

Mortality

Another term for death.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species occupying a given area at a given time.

Population density

The number of individuals per unit area at a given time.

Population distribution

The spatial arrangement of individuals within a population (e.g., clumped, uniform, random).

Population ecology

The study of factors that cause populations to increase or decrease.

Population growth models

Mathematical equations that can be used to predict population size at any moment in time.

Population growth rate

The rate at which a population increases or decreases in size.

Population size (N)

The total number of individuals within a defined area at a given time.

Random dispersion

Dispersion pattern where individuals are distributed randomly, without a predictable pattern.

Rule of 70

Estimates the number of years it takes for a population to double by dividing the number 70 by the variable's growth rate.

Sex ratio

The ratio of males to females in a population.

S-shaped curve

The shape of the logistic growth model when graphed.

Species Richness

The number of species within a defined region.

Species Evenness

The relative abundance of different species in a particular sample, community, or area of habitat.

Survivorship curves

A graph that represents the distinct patterns of species survival as a function of age.

Uniform dispersion

Dispersion pattern where individuals of a population are spaced more or less evenly.