Population growth and Its Implications for Sustainable Exploitation of

Wildlife

Basic Concepts Regarding Rates

Since a population is a changing entity, we are not interested only in its size and
composition at any one moment, but also in how it is changing.

A number of population characteristics/ parameters/ attributes/ properties are

concerned with rates.

A rate may be obtained by dividing the number by the period of time elapsed
during the change.

In dealing with population change the standard notation is

(N2- N1)/t2- t1=

∆N/∆t

Natality

Natality is defined as the inherent ability of a population to increase.

It is equivalent to a term “birth rate”, used in human demography.

It is broader terms covering the population of new individuals of any organism

whether such new individuals are born, hatched, germinated or arises by division
or what not.

Maximum natality, also known as absolute or physiological natality is the

theoretical maximum production of new individuals under ideal conditions that is
no ecological limiting factors, [reproduction being limited by physiological factors],
it is constant for a given population.

Ecological or realized natality refers to population increase under an actual or

specific environmental condition.

It is not a constant for a population but may vary with the size and composition of
the population and physical environmental conditions.

Natality is generally expressed as new individuals produced per unit of time

[dN/dt]- the absolute natality rate, and or as the number of new individuals
produced per unit of time per unit of population, specific natality rate.

MORTALITY

Mortality refers to the death of individuals in a population.

It is more or less the opposite of natality with some parallel sub-concepts.

Mortality rate is equivalent to death rate in “human demography”.

Like natality, mortality can be expressed as the number of individuals dying in a

given period (death per time), or as a specific rate in terms of units of the total
population or any part thereof.

Ecological or realized mortality – the lose of individuals under a given

environmental condition - is, like ecological natality, not a constant but varies with
population and environmental conditions.

There is a theoretical minimum mortality, a constant for a population which

represents a loss under ideal or non-limiting conditions.

Comparison of Maximum and Realized Natality of two species, expressed as

natality rate per time and natality rate per time per female.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS

An excellent population study with management objective involves investigation
of adequacy of habitat, specifically, nutrition in this case and its effect on birth and
death rates.

A population grows according to the simple equation

r=b-
d
where, r=actual growth rate of the population, b= birth rate, d= death rate

In some populations animals moving in or disappearing from a population may also play a role in its
growth rate. The above equation, then becomes

r=(b-d) + (i-
e)

Where, i=immigration , e= emigration

Birth rates and death rates differ with age structure and sex ratios of the
population.

If there are relatively many females of prime reproductive age, naturally a

population will reproduce faster than one with fewer females at this age.

Therefore, in order to understand population growth wildlife manager/biologist

should consider the following seven characteristics pertaining to birth rates.

 Age of sexual maturity of both males and females

 Length of the gestation period.

 Sex ratio.

 Whether the species is monogamous or polygamous

 The number of females that breed at each age

 Number of young per female of various ages

 Effect of nutritional condition on reproduction

The information required must be obtained through careful sampling of animals in

the field, examination of their reproductive tracts, and controlled studies of
animals in captivity.

Regarding mortality, the wildlife manger should have information on causes of

mortality, and the age groups most affected.
Specific information on mortality is more difficult to obtain than on natality.

Animals that die in the field usually do so out of sight and often are consumed by
predators, scavengers or decomposing organisms before biologists can locate
them.

Organization of Population Management Problems

Introduction
A wildlife manager, charged with a responsibility to solve a problem of population ecology may
be faced with a bewildering array of possible causes of an unsatisfactory performance of the
animals s/he wishes to manage. The following outline (Bolen, 1983) suggests a means of
organizing efforts in this regards. The objective this chapter is to identify those factors that are
most responsible for preventing the further growth of the population, by impeding births,
increasing deaths or both,

Population Age Distribution

Age distribution is an important population parameter, which influences both natality and
mortality. The ratio of the various age groups in a population determines the current reproductive
status of the population and indicates what will be expected in the future. Usually an expanding
population will contain a large proportion of young individuals, a stationary population, a more
even distribution of age classes, and a declining population, consist of greater proportion of old
individuals. However a population may pass through changes in age structure, without changing
in size.

LOGISTIC MODEL OF POPULATION GROWTH

Usually animals tend to give birth to many more individuals than will survive to breeding age
(Malthus, 1798; Darwin, 1859).If deaths did not offset births the result would be infinitely
growing population.

Under certain conditions a population, for a time, show a rate of growth that is
EXPONENTIAL– that is growing at an ever-increasing rate. Such conditions may occur when a
population is introduced into a new and favorable environment. No shortages of food, cover, or
space exist, and no disease, parasites, or predators affect any individuals.

The BIRTH RATE is maximum; limited only by the reproductive physiology of the species; and
the DEATH RATE is minimum, with deaths occurring only from old age. The equation for such
growth is conventionally expressed as:

∆N/∆t = rN,
Where, ∆N = change in number, ∆t = change in time, r =the per head maximum potential growth
rate, N = number of individuals in a population

As an example, suppose we have a population of 50 Swayne hartebeests (N), and each

individual has the average capability of contributing one-fourth (0.25) of a new individual to
the population in a given time (r). The change in number per unit time (∆N/∆t) would be
expressed :

∆N/∆t = rN. ∆N/∆t= 0.25*50 = 12.5, ------------------------------------------------------------------

(1)

The answer 12.5 is the number of new individuals that is added to the population, in the time
interval (t). This number then must be added to the original population (Nt) to obtain the
number of the new population (Nt+1), so that our new population is:

Nt+1= Nto + ∆N/∆t ; Nt+1 = No = 50, ∆N/∆t = 12.5, rN = 62.5.-------------------------(2)

For the next time step, we simply repeat the process using the same r value (0.25), but a new N
(62.5), to calculate the number added to the population:

Nt+1/∆t = 0.25(62.5) = 15.5. -------------------------------------------------------------------(3)

Nt+2 = Nt+1 + Nt+1/∆t; Nt+2 = 62.5+ 15.5 =78.

As we can see by continuing this process, the population will grow at an ever-increasing rate
(see Fig. 5-3)

0
Time

Fig. 5-3. Exponential Growth of population with unlimited food and space

Obviously, no population can grow exponentially for very long. The supply of food may not
meet the demand of the ever-increasing population, space or cover availability may be limiting,
predators may respond to the large number of prey, or disease may spread.
 Figure. 5. 4. Growth of population with a maximum number of individuals that can be
sustained by the environment, ∆N/∆t=rN(K-N)/K. For example, using the previous
hypothetical population with K= 1000 and r of 0.25 and N=1/2K , ∆N/∆t = 0.25(500)*(1000-
500)/1000 = 62.5

The maximum number of individuals that can be produced in a unit of time is 62. At any other
N, the number produced is fewer.

The factor (K-N)/K, in the logistic equation has no biological meaning or influence by itself. It
must, in a real population of animals, represent some modification of birth rates or death rates

Either birth rates decline, death rates increase, or both, so that eventually the population must
stop growing. The greater the size of the population, the greater its dampening effect on the
growth of the population. This effect has been mathematically defined and applied to the growth
equation as follows.

∆N/∆t = rN(K-N)/K, ……………………………………………………---------(4)

Where K is defined as the maximum number of individuals the environment can sustain. As the
population N approaches K-, K-N approaches zero so that when population gets very large
relative to the number the environment can sustain, its growth rate becomes nearly zero. That is
its potential growth rate multiplied by the factor (K-N)/K.

For example, suppose the same population (Swayne’s Hartebeest) we considered earlier with an r
of 0.25 has 990 individuals and the maximum number supportable by the environment is 1000.

∆N/∆t = 0.25(990) (1000-990)/1000 = 247.5*0.01 = 2.5,

∆Nt+1 = Nt + ∆N/∆t = 990+2.5 = 992.5

So, instead of growing by 247 individuals as it would without any limitations, the population
grows only by 2.5 individuals, owing to limitations placed upon it by the finite environment.
Equation (4) is known as the logistic equation, and the curve it produces (Fig. 5-4) is known as
sigmoid (S-shaped). The early portion of the sigmoid curve can serve as a theoretical model with which
the manager can compare the growth rate of the population being managed.

Fig. 5-4. Sigmoid/logistic growth curve Value for r can sometimes be obtained from knowledge natality and mortality of
the species under ideal captive conditions or from potential birth rates and
longevity information in the field.
K
There is further practical application of the logistic equation. If one runs through
N the equation, setting N at various levels, it will be discovered that the largest value
of ∆N/∆t is obtained when N is half of the CC (K/2). At half the CC an inflection
Inflection point
point occurs on the growth curve (Figure 5-4), the point at which the population
growth changes from increasing to decreasing rate. In managing for maximum
0 sustained yield of a population, it is therefore desirable to attempt keeping the
population at about half of the carrying capacity.
time
Population sometimes may exceed the maximum number that can be sustained by the habitat. In
such an occurrence, the term (K-N) is negative and therefore, ∆N/∆t is negative, resulting in a
decrease in numbers (total population size)

Carrying Capacity, and Density- dependant/Density-independent Factors

The term K often is referred to as the carrying capacity. (CC). One must keep in mind that CC
for animals can change from time to time as food production, cover availability, water
availability, and other environmental factors vary with the season and successive years. Factors
such as territorial behavior and response to crowding may interact with these external factors , so
that growth of the population may slow down before food, cover, water shortages are measurable
in the habitat.

A factor that causes higher mortality or reduced birth rates as the population becomes more
dense is referred to as density-dependent factor. That is , if probability of an individual being
born or surviving is lower, as numbers of animals in the population become higher, a density-
dependent factor is acting to restrict population growth. Such factors include food supply,
predation, disease and territorial behavior.

Density-independent actors, on the other hand, are related to weather, such as cold, rain and
floods. Unusually populations in the central portions of their geographical range of their species
are limited by density dependent agencies. Near the periphery of the range, however, where
habitats may be marginal and random weather fluctuations may exceed the tolerance of nearly all
animals in the population, density-independent factors may control population numbers (Krebs,
1978).

The logistic equation is based purely on density-dependent factors. The logistic equation, for the
wildlife biologist, is useful in illustrating general principles of population growth and the
theoretical effect of CC on reducing or stopping population expansion.