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Confirmation Number:
Instructor: David van Dijk
Lesson 19 (Population Dynamics) Reading Assignment
Chapter 43
1. Define ecology.
It is the study of the interactions of organisms with their physical environment and
with each other.
2. Define population.
A group of organisms of the sam species living in the same place at the same time.
3. Define, with an example, the meaning of carrying capacity.
The carrying capacity is the number of individuals in a particular population the
environment can support. For example, as deer eat more plants, the plant population
decreases but deer population increases. Eventually, there are too many deer and not
enough plants, and deer die out. Then, plants are more abundant because fewer deer are
eating. These two factors balance each other out and oscillate around a single population.
4. Which pattern of mortality would you think Homo erectus had?
Without the medicine and domination that the current Homo sapiens has, it likely
would have looked a lot like the oysters because once childhood has been survived, it
should have been relatively easy for them to survive.
5. Is it going to get more crowded in India and the United States?
Yes, because the number of people dying is significantly less than the number of
people who are being born.
6. Do you understand how to read age structure graphs?
Yes. The total sum of all of the bars represents the total population. Each age is
represented by a bar that corresponds to its gender, age, and population.
7. What are the differences between density-dependent and density-independent
factors? List several examples of each.
Density dependent factors depend on the population density. For example, as
population density increases, predators may be more attracted to the area and there may be
a greater proportion of individuals being killed there. Density-independent patterns do not
depend on population density. For example, a fire does not depend on population density.
(Note: dispersion is pattern of distribution of organisms in two or three dimensional space

that they occupy. It can be random, clumped, or regular).

8. Make a table showing the differences between the opportunistic and equilibrial
life styles. Among other things, include the following: r-selected, k-selected,
weedy, prudent, prodigal.
(SEE FILE IN FOLDER TITLED Q8 Opportunistic/Equilibrial)
9. Which of the above two life history patterns do humans have?
Humans have K-selected, or prudent, patterns because they expend energy raising
their children and assuring high survival rate.
10. How do some lizards reproduce parthenogenically?
They produce unfertilized eggs which develops into a female.