Ecology - Lecture 8: Introduction to populations

what does population ecology explain?

what factors determine the variation in the size and structure of populations over time and space

What is a population?

a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same time and interact with one another

What do individual interaction mean?

includes sexual reproduction and competition

What does 'populations are dynamic' mean?

distribution and abundance can change over time and space

what is population size?

number of individuals

what is population density?

number of individuals per unit area

what are the two ways abundance can be reported?

population size or density

How can abundances and distributions be estimated?

area based counts, distance methods, mark-recapture

how do you characterize a population?

age class distribution or size class distribution

Why is understanding population structure important?

Understanding the factors that influence population dynamics helps us manage populations for harvest or conservation

geometric growth

discrete time periods

exponential growth

continuous reproduction

when do populations grow geometrically?

when reproduction occurs at regular time intervals

what does Nt represent?

population size after t generations or after t time periods

what does λ mean?

geometric population growth rate

what does N0 mean?

initial population size

what does N(t) represent?

the population size at each instant in time t

what does N0 represent?

initial population size

what does dN/dt represent?

rate of change in population size at each instant in time t

what does r represent?

exponential growth rate