APES Unit 3

Generalists

Live in a variety of environments, adapt easily and can benefit from changing habitats

Specialists

Live in very specific environments, don’t adapt easily and are hurt by changing habitats

K-selected

Very few offspring with lots of care, mature later and reproduce multiple times, stable environments

r-selected species

Mature early and have short lifespans, have many offspring with minimal energy on each, may only reproduce once, unstable environments

Biotic potential

Maximum reproductive rate under ideal conditions

Type I survivorship curve

Many survive from birth to death, usually because they’re giving care to their young

Type 2 survivorship curve

Death rate constant throughout life

Type 3 survivorship

Many die early in life due to minimal parental care

Carrying capacity

Maximum number of organisms the environment can support

Overshoot and dieback

When a population exceeds their carrying capacity (overshoot) their population usually falls right after (dieback)

Fecundity

Ability to produce offspring

Density dependent factors

Factors that affect carrying capacity based on population (ex: disease, competition)

Density independent factors

Factors that affect carrying capacity not based on population (ex: natural disasters, drought)