Sub: Ecology Lecture 12th Date 26th April 2021

TOPIC: Population ecology: basic population characters, growth and growth curves, population
dynamics and regulations.

Key terms

Term Meaning

A group of individuals that belong in the same species and live in the
Population same area; for example, the stray cats of New York City

Population The ecological study of how biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living)
ecology factors influence the density, dispersion, and size of a population

Population size The number of individuals in the population; for

(NNN) example, 500500500 deer in a forest (N=500N=500N, equals, 500)

The number of individuals per unit area or volume; for

Density example, 100100100 deer per acre of land in a forest

Density- Referring to any characteristic that changes population size (NNN)

dependent factor because it is affected by population density; for example, competition

Density- Referring to any characteristic that changes population size (NNN)

independent because it is not affected by population density; for example, natural
factor disasters like an earthquake

The pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of a

Dispersion population; for example, a clumped dispersion

Carrying
The maximum population size (max NNN) that can be supported by the
capacity (KKK)
available resources in an environment; for example, K=10K=10K, equals,
Term Meaning

10 for the alligators in a swamp

Exponential Growth of a population in an ideal, unlimited resources environment; for

growth example, bacteria left on a nutrient-enriched petri dish overnight

Leveling off of exponential growth due to limiting resources; for

Logistic growth example, the current human population

What is a population?

In everyday life, we often think about population as the number of people who live in a particular
place—New York City has a population of 8.6 million.

Population Ecology Definition

In ecology, a population consists of all the organisms of a particular species living in a given
area.

In population biology, the term population refers to a group of members of a species living in
the same area.

The definition of population ecology is the study of how various factors affect population
growth, rates of survival and reproduction, and risk of extinction.

Characteristics of Population Ecology

Ecologists use various terms when understanding and discussing populations of organisms. A
population is all of one kind of species residing in a particular location. Population
 size represents the total number of individuals in a habitat. Population density refers to how
many individuals reside in a particular area.

Population Size is represented by the letter N, and it equals the total number of individuals in
a population. The larger a population is, the greater its generic variation and therefore its
potential for long-term survival. Increased population size can, however, lead to other issues,
such as overuse of resources leading to a population crash.

Population Density refers to the number of individuals in a particular area. A low-density area
would have more organisms spread out. High-density areas would have more individuals living
closer together, leading to greater resource competition.

Population Dispersion: Yields helpful information about how species interact with each other.
Researchers can learn more about populations by studying they way they are distributed or
dispersed.

Population distribution describes how individuals of a species are spread out, whether they live
in close proximity to each other or far apart, or clustered into groups.

• Uniform dispersion refers to organisms that live in a specific territory. One example would be
penguins. Penguins live in territories, and within those territories the birds space themselves
out relatively uniformly.
• Random dispersion refers to the spread of individuals such as wind-dispersed seeds, which
fall randomly after traveling.
• Clustered or clumped dispersion refers to a straight drop of seeds to the ground, rather than
being carried, or to groups of animals living together, such as herds or schools. Schools of fish
exhibit this manner of dispersion.

How Population Size and Density Are Calculated

Quadrat method: Ideally, population size could be determined by counting every individual
in a habitat. This is highly impractical in many cases, if not impossible, so ecologists often
have to extrapolate such information.
In the case of very small organisms, slow movers, plants or other non-mobile organisms,
scientists scan use what is called a quadrat (not "quadrant"; note the spelling). A quadrat
entails marking off same-sized squares inside a habitat. Often string and wood are used. Then,
researchers can more easily count the individuals within the quadrat.

Different quadrats can be placed in different areas so that researchers get random samples. The
data collected from counting the individuals in the quadrats is then used to extrapolate
population size.

Mark and recapture: Obviously a quadrat would not work for animals that move a round a
great deal. So to determine the population size of more mobile organisms, scientists use a
method called mark and recapture.

In this scenario, individual animals are captured and then marked with a tag, band, paint or
something similar. The animal is released back into its environment. Then at a later date,
another set of animals is captured, and that set may include those already marked, as well as
unmarked animals.

The result of capturing both marked and unmarked animals gives researchers a ratio to use, and
from that, they can calculate estimated population size.

An example of this method is that of the California condor, in which individuals were captured
and tagged to follow the population size of this threatened species. This method is not ideal
due to various factors, so more modern methods include radio tracking of animals.

. Age structure:
In most types of populations, individuals are of different age. The proportion of individuals in
each age group is called age structure of that population. The ratio of the various age groups in a
population determines the current reproductive status of the population, thus anticipating its
future. From an ecological view point there are three major ecological ages in any population.
These are, pre-reproductive, reproductive and post reproductive. The relative duration of these
age groups in proportion to the life span varies greatly with different organisms.
Age pyramid:
The model representing geometrically the proportions of different age groups in the population
of any organism is called age pyramid. According to Bodenheimer (1938), there are following
three basic types of age pyramids.

(a) A pyramids with a broad base (or triangular structure):

It indicates a high percentage of young individuals. In rapidly growing young populations birth
rate is high and population growth may be exponential as in yeasty house fly, Paramecium, etc.
Under such conditions, each successive generation will be more numerous than the preceding
one, and thus a pyramid with a broad base would result (Fig. A).

(b) Bell-Shaped Polygon:

It indicates a stationary population having an equal number of young and middle aged
individuals. As the growth rate becomes slow and stable, i.e., the pre-
reproductive and reproductive age groups become more or less equal in size, post-reproductive
group remaining as the smallest (Fig. B).

(c) An urn-shaped structure:

It indicates a low percentage of young individuals and shows a declining population. Such an un-
shaped figure is obtained when the birth rate is drastically reduced the pre-reproductive group
dwindles in proportion to the other two age groups of the population. (Fig. C).

Natality (birth rate):

Population increase because of natality. It is simply a broader term covering the production of
new individuals by birth, hatching, by fission, etc. The natality rate may be expressed as the
number of organisms born per female per unit time. In human population, the natality rate is
equivalent to the birth-rate. There are distinguished two types of natality.

(a) Maximum natality:

Also called as absolute or potential or physiological natality, it is the theoretical maximum
production of new individuals under ideal conditions which means that there are no ecological
limiting factors and that reproduction is limited only by physiological factors. It is a constant for
a given population. This is also called fecundity rate.

(b) Ecological natality:

Also called realized natality or simply natality, it is the population increase under an actual,
existing specific condition. Thus it takes into account all possible existing environmental
conditions. This is also designated as fertility rate.

Natality is expressed as

∆Nn/∆ t = Absolute Natality rate (B)

∆Nn/N ∆ t = Specific natality rate (b) (i.e., natality rate per unit of population).
Where N = initial number of organisms.

n = new individuals in the population.

t = time.

Further, the rate at which females produce offsprings is determined by the following three
population characteristics:

(a) Clutch size or the number of young produced on each occasion.

(b) The time between one reproductive event and the next and

(c) The age of first reproduction.

Thus, natality usually increase with the period of maturity and then falls again as the organism
gets older.

Mortality (death rate):

Mortality means the rate of death of individuals in the population. Like natality, mortality may
be of following types:

(a) Minimum mortality:

Also called specific or potential mortality, it represents the theoretical minimum loss under ideal
or non-limiting conditions. It is a constant for a population.

(b) Ecological or realised mortality:

It is the actual loss of individuals under a given environmental condition. Ecological mortality is
not constant for a population and varies with population and environmental conditions, such as
predation, disease and other ecological hazards.

Vital index and survivorship curves:

A birth-death ratio (100 x births/deaths) is called vital index. For a population, the surviving
individuals are more significant for a population than the dead ones. The survival rates are
generally expressed by survivorship curves.

Biotic Potential:
Each population has the inherent power to grow. When the environment is unlimited, the specific
growth rate (i.e., the population growth rate per individual) becomes constant and maximum for
the existing conditions. The value of the growth rate under these favourable conditions is
maximal, is characteristics of a particular population age structure, and is a single index of the
inherent power of a population to grow.

It may be designated by the symbol r which is the exponent in the differential equation for
population growth in an unlimited environment under specific physical conditions. The index r is
actually the difference between the instantaneous specific natality rate and the instantaneous
specific death rate and may thus be expressed

r=b–d
The Overall population growth rate under unlimited environmental conditions (r) depends on the
age composition and the specific growth rates due to reproduction of component age groups.
Thus, there may be several values of r for a species depending upon population structure. When a
stationary and stable age distribution exists, the specific growth rate is called the intrinsic rate of
natural increase or r max. The maximum value of r is often called by the less specific but widely
used expression biotic potential or reproductive potential.
Chapman (1928) coined the term biotic potential to designate maximum reproductive power. He
defined it as “the inherent property of an organism to reproduce to survive, i.e., to increase in
numbers. It is a sort of algebraic sum of the number of young produced at each reproduction, the
number of reproduction in a given period of time, the sex ratio and their general ability to survive
under given physical conditions.” Thus with the term of biotic potential, one is able to put
together natality, mortality and age distribution.

Life tables:
Species differ widely in the number of young produced each year, in the average age to which
they live and in their average rate of mortality. When sufficient facts about a species are known,
a life table that tabulates the vital statistics of mortality and life expectancy for each group in the
population may be formulated.

In each table there are columns for age of individuals; numbers surviving to each age; the
number is dying in each age group; the proportion dying from the previous age category; fertility
rate; and the number of young born by each age group. The information obtained from these
figures provides the net reproductive rate of the population i.e., offspring left by each individual.

Population Ecology Theory

Thomas Malthus, who published an essay that described population’s relationship to natural
resources, formed the earliest theory of population ecology. Charles Darwin expanded on this
with his “survival of the fittest” concepts.

In its history, ecology relied upon the concepts of other fields of study. One scientist, Alfred
James Lotka, changed the course of science when he came up with the beginnings of
population ecology. Lotka sought the formation of a new field of “physical biology” in which
he incorporated a systems approach to studying the relationship between organisms and their
environment.
Biostatistician Raymond Pearl took note of Lotka’s work and collaborated with him to discuss
predator-prey interactions.

Vito Volterra, an Italian mathematician, began analyzing predator-prey relationships in the

1920s. This would lead to what were called Lotka-Volterra equations that served as a
springboard for mathematical population ecology.

Australian entomologist A.J. Nicholson led the early fields of study regarding density-
dependent mortality factors. H.G. Andrewartha and L.C. Birch would go on to describe how
populations are affected by abiotic factors. Lotka’s systems approach to ecology still
influences the field to this day.

Population Growth Rate and Examples

Population growth reflects the change in the number of individuals over a period of time.
Population growth rate is affected by birth and death rates, which in turn are related to
resources in their environment or outside factors such as climate and disasters. Decreased
resources will lead to a decreased population growth. Logistic growth refers to population
growth when resources are limited.

When a population size encounters unlimited resources, it tends to grow very quickly. This is
called exponential growth. Bacteria, for example, will grow exponentially when given access
to unlimited nutrients. However, such growth cannot be sustained indefinitely.

Carrying capacity: Because the real world does not offer unlimited resources, the number of
individuals in a growing population eventually will reach a point when resources become
scarcer. Then the growth rate will slow and level off.

Once a population reaches this leveling-off point, it is considered the greatest population the
environment can sustain. The term for this phenomenon is carrying capacity. The letter K
represents carrying capacity.
Growth, birth and death rate: For human population growth, researchers have long used
demography to study population changes over time. Such changes result from birth rates and
death rates.

Larger populations, for example, would lead to higher birth rates just because of more potential
mates. However, this can also lead to higher death rates from competition and other variables
such as disease.

Populations remain stable when birth and death rates are equal. When birth rates are greater
than death rates, the population increases. When death rates outpace birth rates, the population
goes down. This example does not, however, take immigration and emigration into account.

Life expectancy also plays a role in demography. When individuals live longer, they also affect
resources, health, and other factors.

Limiting factors: Ecologists study factors that limit population growth. This helps them
understand the changes populations undergo. It also helps them predict potential futures for the
populations.

Resources in the environment are examples of limiting factors. For example, plants need a
certain amount of water, nutrients and sunlight in an area. Animals require food, water, shelter,
access to mates and safe areas for nesting.

Density-dependent population regulation: When population ecologists discuss the growth of

a population, it is through the lens of factors that are density-dependent or density-
independent.

Density-dependent population regulation describes a scenario in which a population’s

density affects its growth rate and mortality. Density-dependent regulation tends to be more
biotic.

For example, competition within and between species for resources, diseases, predation and
waste buildup all represent density-dependent factors. The density of available prey would also
affect the population of predators, causing them to move or potentially starve.
Density-independent population regulation: In contrast, density-independent population
regulation refers to natural (physical or chemical) factors that affect mortality rates. In other
words, mortality is influenced without density being taken into account.

These factors tend to be catastrophic, such as natural disasters (e.g., wildfires and
earthquakes). Pollution, however, is a manmade density-independent factor that affects many
species. Climate crisis is another example.

Population cycles: Populations rise and fall in a cyclic manner depending on the resources and
competition in the environment. An example would be harbor seals, affected by pollution and
overfishing. Decreased prey for the seals leads to increased death of seals. If the number of
births were to increase, that population size would remain stable. But if their deaths outpaced
births, the population would decrease.

As climate change continues to impact natural populations, the use of population biology
models becomes more important. The many facets of population ecology help scientists better
understand how organisms interact, and aid in strategies for species management, conservation
and protection.

Population dynamics

In addition to knowing the density and dispersion of a population, another factor that is important
to study in population ecology is how the population size (NNN) is changing over time. It's
important to remember that ecology is a dynamic study, meaning that it involves looking at
the changes that happen to groups of organisms and how those changes affect their constant
interactions with the biotic and abiotic factors of their environment.

Ecologists use a variety of mathematical methods to model population dynamics (how

populations change in size and composition over time). Let's look at some examples of these
dynamics and the how they could apply the island bunnies.
Exponential growth

Some models represent population growth without environmental constraints in which the
population size (NNN) is undergoing exponential growth. In other words, this model shows the
growth of a population in an ideal environment with unlimited resources. This can be depicted as
a J-shaped curve on a graph that models population growth.

Graph of bunny population experiencing J-shaped exponential growth curve

Image credit: "Environmental limits to population growth: Figure 1 (modified)" by OpenStax

College, Biology, CC BY 4.0.

For example, if the bunnies on the island had unlimited resources (e.g. food, water, shelter,
mates), their population size (NNN) would continue to grow exponentially. In this "perfect"
world of unlimited resources, there are no environmental constraints to reduce their population
size (NNN), and therefore, the island, given enough time, would be absolutely full of bunnies
hopping around everywhere!
Logistic growth

In reality, exponential growth is difficult to sustain over long periods of time for any population
(including the bunnies) because resources are limited in nature. If this is the case, what would
happen to the bunny population after it begins to face such limitations to growth? In order to
answer this question, we can use a different growth model used by ecologists known as
the logistic growth model.

In the logistic growth model, the population experiences a leveling off of exponential growth due
to limiting resources. In turn, the shape of the graph, which was formerly a J-shaped curve, now
shifts to an S-shaped curve on a graph that models population growth.

Graph of bunny population experiencing S-shaped logistic growth curve

Image credit: "Environmental limits to population growth: Figure 1 (modified)" by OpenStax

College, Biology, CC BY 4.0.

What exactly determines this "leveling off" of the population's growth? In population
ecology, carrying capacity, symbolized as KKK, represents the maximum population size that
can be supported by the available resources in an environment. Once carrying capacity (KKK)
has been reached, populations tend to fluctuate around (KKK), periodically going slightly over
and under this population size based on the available resources in the environment.

Population growth regulation

As you saw in the logistic growth model, the bunny population's growth, along with all other
populations' growth, will always end up having to face some kind of resistance to growth,
particularly when the population reaches carrying capacity (KKK). As a population ecologist, it's
also worth trying to figure out what exactly are the factors that regulate, or influence, the size
and growth of the bunny population?

The bunny population's growth is influenced by two main factors–density-dependent factors, in

which the density of the bunny population at a given time affects its growth rate, and density-
independent factors, which influence growth rate of the bunny population regardless of its
population density.

In the table below, examples of density-dependent factors are shown. With these factors,
an increase in population density causes each of these factors to exert an even stronger influence
on the population size (NNN).

Density-dependent factors

Factor Explanation Island bunnies

In crowded populations, increasing population Lots of bunnies = lots of

density intensifies competition for resources and competition for limited
Competition may cause a decrease in population size (NNN) resources

As a prey population gets more and more dense, Lots of bunnies = lots of
predators may have easier access to feed on that easy targets for predatory
Predation species cats on island
Factor Explanation Island bunnies

In dense populations, diseases can spread more

rapidly and may cause a decrease in population Lots of bunnies = lots of
Disease size (NNN) hosts for diseases

Density-independent factors

Density-independent factors are quite different. Many abiotic (non-living) factors influence the
death rate of a population regardless of its density, including weather, natural disasters, and
pollution. An individual bunny may be killed in a catastrophic earthquake on an island regardless
of how many bunnies happen to be in that area. Its chances of survival are the same whether the
population density is high or low, thus exemplifying a density-independent factor.

Demography: describing populations and how they change

In many cases, ecologists aren't studying people in towns and cities. Instead, they're studying
various kinds of plant, animal, fungal, and even bacterial populations. The statistical study of any
population, human or otherwise, is known as demography.

Why is demography important? Populations can change in their numbers and structure—for
example age and sex distribution—for various reasons. These changes can affect how the
population interacts with its physical environment and with other species.

By tracking populations over time, ecologists can see how these populations have changed and
may be able to predict how they're likely to change in the future. Monitoring the size and
structure of populations can also help ecologists manage populations—for example, by showing
whether conservation efforts are helping an endangered species increase in numbers.

In this article, we'll begin our journey through demographics by looking at the concepts of
population size, density, and distribution. We'll also explore some methods ecologists use to
determine these values for populations in nature.