Population Growth and Life History Strategies

These flashcards cover key concepts related to population growth and life history strategies as outlined in the lecture notes.

Life History

The schedule of an organism’s growth, development, reproduction, and survival, representing an allocation of limited time and resources to maximize reproductive success.

Fecundity

The number of offspring produced by an organism per reproductive episode.

Parity

The number of reproductive episodes an organism experiences.

Parental Investment

The time and energy given to an offspring by its parents.

Longevity

The life span of an organism.

Slow life history traits

Traits characterized by long time to sexual maturity, long life span, low fecundity, high parity, high parental investment, and high mortality late in life.

Fast life history traits

Traits characterized by short time to sexual maturity, short life span, high fecundity, low parity, low parental investment, and high mortality early in life.

Age Structure

The distribution of individuals among age classes within a population.

Exponential Growth

Population growth where resources are unlimited, with continuous reproduction and a growth rate expressed as N(t) = N(0)e^{rt}.

Logistic Growth

Population growth that is limited by factors such as density, represented as a model with a carrying capacity (K).