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Intraspecific Population Regulation
Intraspecific Population Regulation
Intraspecific Population Regulation
11/17/2015
Small populations
Distance between colonies increased
Decrease in colony size
Always had to be vigilant
Gained protection while being in a group; when didnt have enough
looking for predators theyd spend too much time doing that rather
than feeding themselves and grow and reproduce
As a result, as population decline the ability to reproduce declined
as well
Spruce budworm: in times of drought or temperatures lower, theyll
start to grow everywhere and stress the trees
Cause a dieback in the forest
When the water comes back and temperatures get warmer, the
budworm population declines and the trees get better
Can directly relate population to density independent factors
- the conservation of populations requires understanding the minimum
viable population and carrying capacity
minimum viable population: the number of individuals necessarily
to ensure long term survival of a species despite storms, disease,
everything
the number must be large enough to withstand chance variations in
o births and deaths, climate changes, etc
MVP determined through understanding the life history of the
species and the ability of individuals to disperse among habitat
patches
Genetic models suggest vertebrates need to be more than 1000 to
survive
o For invertebrates and plants, MVP is 10,000
Population viability analysis: forecasting population dynamics in the
future and see where the numbers will go to 0
Minimum dynamic area: not enough to think about just numbers, think
about how much area is available to them
Gives an estimate of area per individual
Found: large carnivores need much larger area than large and small
herbivores