Populations

Affluence

The abundance of valuable resources or valuable material possessions

Age structure diagram/Population Pyramid

A graphical illustration of the distribution of a population by age groups and sex

Biotic potential

The unrestricted growth of populations

Carrying capacity (K)

The maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment

CBR

Crude Birth Rate

CDR

Crude Death Rate 

Clumping

When individuals of a particular species group close to one another for beneficial purposes

Cohort

A group of people who share a defining characteristic

Community

A group of people with shared socially-significant characteristics

Corridor

A designated area that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures

Demographic Transition Model

Involves four stages based on economic, technological, and social development changes

Demography

The statistical study of human populations

Density-dependent

Any force that affects the size of a population of living things in response to the density of the population

Density-independent

Any force that affects the size of a population of living things regardless of the density of the population

Developed Country

A country that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure

Developing Country 

A country with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index

Dieback

A condition in trees or woody plants in which peripheral parts are killed, either by pathogens, parasites or conditions

Doubling Time

The time it takes for a population to double in size

Exponential Growth Model

When the quantity of a population increases rapidly over time

Family planning

The consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children

Fecundity

The capability to produce offspring

Generalist

Able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

A monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country

Immigration

The international movement of people to a destination country

Emigration

The act of leaving a resident country

Inbreeding Depression

Reduced biological fitness caused by loss of genetic diversity as a consequence of inbreeding

Industrialization

The period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society

Infant Mortality

The death of an infant before the infant's first birthday

Child Mortality

The death of children under the age of five

Intrinsic growth rate (r)

The maximum potential rate of increase of a population under ideal environmental conditions

J-shaped curve

A curve that initially falls, then steeply rises above the starting point

K-selected

Species which make greater parental investment at the expense of a reduced quantity of offspring

Life expectancy

The estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age

Limiting Resource

Something that keeps a population at equilibrium

Logistic Growth Model

A population's increase that starts exponentially but slows as it approaches the environment's carrying capacity

Malthus

An English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography

Malthusian theory

Population growth is potentially exponential, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear

Metapopulation

A group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level

Mortality

A measure of the number of deaths in a particular population

Net Migration Rate

The difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants

N_t=N₀e^rt 

A growth model that estimates a population's future size (N_t) after a period of time (t), based on the intrinsic growth rate (r) and the number of reproducing individuals currently in the populations (N₀)

Overshoot

When a population exceeds the availability of resources needed for survival

Parental Care

A parental investment being made to the evolutionary fitness of offspring

Population Density

A measurement of population per unit land area

Population Distribution

The manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged

Population Growth Model

Essential tools for understanding how species increase or decrease over time

Population Growth Rate

The rate at which a population increases or decreases over a specific period of time

Population Momentum

The tendency of the raw birth rate to rise as a result of past high fertility rates, even after fertility rates have fallen, or vice-versa

Population size (N)

A countable quantity representing the number of individual organisms in a population

Post-industrialization

The stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy

Pre-industrialization

Social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution

r-selected

Species which produce more offspring at the expense of reduced individual parental investment

Random Dispersion

Individuals are spread at random distances and directions from the parent organism

Replacement Level

The number of babies that must be born to sustain the same number of people in the population

Resource Availability

The extent to which natural resources are accessible and sufficient to meet the needs of a population

Rule of 70

A mathematical formula used to estimate doubling time (70/r)

S-Shaped Curve

A graphical representation of population growth that shows how populations initially grow slowly, then rapidly accelerate, before eventually leveling off due to limiting factors such as resource availability or competition

Sex Ratio

The ratio of males to females in a population

Specialist

Can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet

Survivorship Curve (I, II, III)

A graph showing the number or proportion of individuals surviving to each age for a given species or group

Theory of Demographic Transition

A phenomenon and theory in the social sciences referring to the historical shift from high to low rates of birth and death

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime

Uniform Dispersion

Individuals of a population are spaced more or less evenly