Chapter 53

Definitions:
Population ecology: The study of how and why the number of individuals in a population
changes over time and space.
Population: a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area at the same
time. Populations are often defined operationally (functionally)
Density: The number of individuals per unit area.
Mark-recapture method: To estimate the size of wildlife. Researchers must catch and mark
individuals with leg bands, ear tags, or some other method of identification. They then release
the marked individuals and allow them to mix with the unmarked animals in the population for a
period of time.

To get the population size N, multiply the number marked in the first catch, M1, by the total
number caught in the second catch, C, and divide that by the number of marked recaptures in
the second catch, M2:
N = (M1 x C) / M2
Or: (130 x 90) / 20 = 585.

Immigration: Occurs when individuals leave a population to join another population.

Emigration: Occurs when the movement of individuals out of a population and into other locations.

Territoriality: The defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals.

Demography: Analyzing birth rates, death rates, immigration rates, and emigration rates is
fundamental to demography: the study of factors that determine the size and structure of
populations through time.

To predict the future of a population, biologists have to know the population's age structure.
They need to know how likely individuals of different ages are to survive to the following year,
how many offspring are produced by females of different ages, and how many individuals of
different ages immigrate and emigrate each generation.

Life Table: Summarizes the probability that an individual will survive and reproduce in any given time
interval over the course of its lifetime.

Survivorship curve: Are pplots using logarithmic scale while plotting number of survivors vs. age

Three types of survivorship curves:

1. Humans have type 1 survivorship curve. Survivorship throughout life is high – most
individuals approach the species maximum lifespan.
 2. Type II survivorship occur in species where individuals have about the same probability of
dying each year of life. Blackbirds and other songbirds have type of curve.
3. Many plants have Type III curves a pattern defined by extremely high death rates of seeds
and seedlings but high survival rates later in life.

Exponential population growth: N =Noe^(rt) occurs when r does not change over time. The key
point about exponential growth is that the growth rate does not depend on the number of
individuals in the population. This type of growth is density independent.
In nature, exponential growth is common in two circumstances: (1) a few individuals
found a new population in a new habitat, or (2) a population has been devastated by a
storm or some other type of catastrophe and then begins to recover, starting with a few
surviving individuals.

It is not possible for exponential growth to continue indefinitely. If it did, then the
population would eventually fill all available habitat. When population density gets very
high, the population per capita birth rate will decrease and the per capita death rate will
increase, causing r to decline.
ALL population have innate capacity to grow exponentially!
Intrinsic rate of increase: The per capita rate at which an exponentially growing population
increases in size at each instant in time. When r, the per capita rate of increase, is at its max.
Carrying capacity: maximum number of individuals in a population that can be supported in a
particular habitat over a sustained period of time. The carrying capacity of a habitat depends on
many factors: food, space, water, soil quality, and resting or nesting sites. Carrying capacity can
change from year to year, depending on conditions. Carrying capacity reflects resource
limitation.
- Assumption: Individuals affect each other, and each inhibits the others' growth and
reproduction equally.
Logistic population growth: The logistic growth equation, ΔN/Δt = rmaxN[(K-N)/K)], describes logistic
population growth, or change in growth rate that occurs as a function of population size.

****Life History: An organism's life history describes how an individual allocates resources to
growth, reproduction, and activities or structures that are related to survival. Traits such as
survivorship, age-specific fecundity, age at first reproduction, and growth rate are all aspects of
an organism's life history. Life history is shaped by natural selection in a way that maximizes an
individual's fitness in its environment.
Ex: In L. vivipara populations, biologists contend that females who live a long time but
mature late and have few offspring each year have high fitness in cold, high-elevation
habitats, such as Austria. In these habitats, females have to reduce their reproductive
output and put more energy into traits that increase survival in a harsh environment. In
contrast, females who have short lives but mature early and have large numbers of
offspring each year do better in warm, low-elevation habitats, such as France.
Semelparity: Single reproductive effort, resources dedicated to one reproductive event. A risk
to parents between broods would be great Parental investment low, Type III survivorship.
Iteroparity: Multiple reproductive efforts, some resources must be allocated for parental
survivorship, risk to parents between broods is relatively small, brood size small, offspring large
with large yolks, parental investment high, low infant morality, Type I or II survivorship.
Density independent: In population ecology, referring to any characteristic that does not
depend on population density. When r is constant exponential growth.
Density dependent: In population ecology, referring to any characteristic that varies depending
on population density. When r is constant and then becomes not constant logistic growth.
Population dynamics: changes in population through time and space. Use spatial distribution
of population demography and population growth rates, along with immigration and emigration.
General demographic equation
N(t+1) = N(t) + B(t) - D(t) + I(t) - E(t)
B = birth rate
D = death rate
I = immigration rate
E = emigration rate

Population growth rate depends on the number of individuals present and is therefore
inherently exponential.

Metapopulation: Given enough time, each population within the larger metapopulation is
expected to go extinct. The cause could be a catastrophe, such as a storm; it could also be a
disease outbreak or a sudden influx of predators.
Migration from nearby populations can reestablish populations in empty habitat
fragments. In this way, the balance between extinction and recolonization exists within a
meta population. Even though populations blink on and off over time, the overall
metapopulation is maintained at a stable number of individuals
The history and future of a metapopulation is driven by the birth and death of
populations, just as the dynamics of a single population are driven by the birth and death
of individuals. Further, migration is an important source of individuals to recolonize
patches of vacated habitats.
Demographic transition: The movement from high birth and death rates towards low birth and
death rates, which tends to accompany industrialization and improved living conditions.
Age Structure: How many individuals of different ages are alive.
Ecological footprint: The aggregate land and water area required by each person, city, or
nation to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb all waste it generates.
Chapter 54 Community Ecology

Definitions:

Community ecology: A branch of science focused on understanding biodiversity including generation,

Community: A group of populations of different species living in close enough proximity to interact.

Interspecific interactions: Includes competition, predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, and

Competition: is a interaction that occurs when individuals of different species compete for resources
that limits the survival and reproduction of each species.

Competitive exclusion: states that when two species are vying for resources, the one with slight
reproductive advantage will eliminate the other

Ecological niche: organism's role in the community; defined by what it eats, how it reproduces, how it
behaves. Incudes everything it needs to survive.

Resource partitioning: The differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a
community.

Character Displacement: The evolutionary tendency for the traits of similar species that occupy
overlapping ranges to change in a way that reduces interspecific competition. Character
displacement makes niche differentiation possible
Examples:
- G. fortis finches on Daphne major experience no interspecific competition and their
range of beak size was 3.5-5.6 mm. G. fortis finches on Santa Cruz had competed for
seeds with G. fuliginosa for years and year. character displacement occurred where the
beak size for G. fortis finches increased to 4.0 - 7.5. The beak size for G. fuliginosa is
2.6-4.0.
- The large ground finch G. magnirostris established a breeding population on Daphne
major in 1982, living alongside or "sympatric" with G. fortis. G. magnirostris has a large
beak capable of opening large, hard, drought-tolerant seeds. At first, scientist - The
Grants - observed a slow but steady decline in average beak size in G. fortis after the
arrival of G. magnirostris. Then in 2004, during a severe drought when competition with
G. as at its most intense, most finches died of starvation. The Grants observed that
- Only G. fortis that could eat extremely small seeds efficiently could survive
- The larger-beaked G. fortis had been chased off from the feeding sites with the large
seeds by G. magnirostris.
 - Overall, the average beak size by G. fortis declined sharply
The Grants had observed evolution in action - direction selection on G. fortis beak size
causing character displacement (reduced average beak size) and niche differentiation
(adaption for different seed sizes). That is, natural selection had favored G. fortis
individuals that did not compete with G. magnirostris
Exploitation: A general term for any interaction in which one species benefits by feeding on the
other species, which is harmed by the interaction.
Predation: Occurs when a predator kills and consumes all or most of another individual. The
consumed individual is called the prey. Woodpeckers eat bark beetles; ladybird beetles eat
aphids; orcas eat seals. Although many researchers use predation to refer specifically to
carnivores ("meat-eaters"), predation can also refer to the consumption of plants, especially
seeds (which contain entire plant embryos).
A fundamentally asymmetric relationship that benefits one participant and harms the
other;
- Predation determines the flow of energy and materials through food webs.
- Some predators feed mainly on "surplus" population leaving healthy, reproductively
active adults alone.
- Some predators feed so efficiently that they can control prey abundance and even
drive prey to extinction.
Functional response: relationship between predation rate and prey abundance.

Aposematic coloration: Is used by noxious organisms to signal their unprofitability to potential

Batesian mimicry: a palatable or harmless species mimics an unpalatable or harmful species

Herbivory: Herbivory takes place when herbivores ("plant-eaters") consume plant tissues. caterpillars
chew leaves; marine iguanas feed on algae.