Topic 13

What is population ecology?

The study of how populations of organisms interact with their environments and evolve.

What does ecology study?

The study of organisms and their interaction with the environment.

What defines a population?

A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same place at the same time.

List the three properties of populations.

Density, Dispersion, and Demographics.

How is population density calculated?

By adding births and immigration, and removing deaths and emigration.

What is dispersion in population ecology?

The pattern of spacing between individuals in a population.

Name the three types of dispersion patterns.

Clumped, Uniform, and Random.

What is a demography study focus on?

Vital statistics and how they change over time.

What are examples of vital statistics?

Death rate, Birth rate, Age class structure, and Sex ratio.

What do survivorship curves represent?

They illustrate the survival patterns of a cohort through different age classes.

What are the three types of survivorship curves?

Type I, Type II, and Type III.

Characteristics of Type I survivorship curve?

Most individuals live long lives with low juvenile mortality and high mortality in older individuals.

When is a Type II survivorship curve observed?

When there is an equal chance of death/survival throughout a lifetime.

Characteristics of Type III survivorship curve?

High mortality in juveniles, with low mortality for older age classes.

What factors influence variation in life history traits?

Age of sexual maturity, size of adult, fecundity, number of reproductive cycles, parental care, and longevity.

What is the optimality theory?

A model predicting that behavior, which maximizes the difference between costs and benefits, results in the highest fitness.

What are the three types of costs in optimality theory?

Energy, Risk, and Opportunity costs.

How does the principle of allocation relate to life history traits?

Energy invested in one trait cannot be used for another, resulting in trade-offs.

What is longevity in the context of life history traits?

The duration of an organism's life.