Module 1

Population Ecology

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Differentiate density dependent factor and density independent factors
2. Discuss the relationship of the population of a specie and availability of resources on its environment
3. Answer a worksheet on the basic concepts of Population Ecology
Population as per defined above is a group of species that lives in an area or region. Demography is a that study deals with this.
Specifically, demography is referred to as the statistical study of populations which allows the predictions to be made about how a
population will change over time. Population dynamics, on the other hand refers to the changes to the population in a certain area as
time passes by. Population dynamics is known to have three key features which are size,density and dispersion. Lets take a look at
them one by one.
1. Size - It is referred to as the number of individuals in an area. It means that when we are referring to size, as an ecologists for
example will tend to count all of the individuals in that area. In short, the totality of individuals in an area.
2. Density - It is the measurement of population per unit area. On the hand, when referring to density, we are trying to count only
the individuals in a certain area and not its totality. For example, if you would divide a given area into four, density will be the count of
individual from area 1,area 2 and so on. As compared to size wherein you would count all the individuals in the four areas and consider
its totality.
3. Dispersion - It describes the spacing of organisms relative to each other. There are three known types of dispersion which are:
a. Clumped
b. Uniform
c. Random

Aside from the key features of Population Dynamics, we also have the Key features of Population. Lets take a look also on these.
1. Growth rate - It refers to how fast something increases in size as time passes by. In population ecology, it refers to the
difference of the mortality rate and the birth rate in a given population. Birth rate refers to the number of individuals born in a period of
time. Death rate refers to the number of individuals that die in a certain period of time. If we try to equate it, it would be:
Birth rate(natality) - death rate(mortality) = rate of natural increase(r)
2. Population density - it is the number of individuals per unit area. In an equation it will be: Pop density = number of individuals
÷ unit of space. The following are factors that mat affect density or Population density or pop density:
a. Immigration - movement of individuals into a population
b. Emigration - movement of individuals out on a population
c. Density dependent factors - this are BIOTIC factors in the environment that have an increasing effect as population size
increases. For example, we have diseases,competition and parasites. Lets cite and example, in area where the population of prey
increases, the tendency is that the number of predators increases also because of its unlimited supply. This leads also to competition
for food source and increase risk of getting diseases.
d. Density independent factors - these are ABIOTIC factors in the environment that affect populations regardless of their density.
We have the temperature and weather as an example. In a situation where we experience drought, regardless of the density of the
plants or animals in a certain area, they all tend to be affected by this phenomena. Regardless whether there are more individuals in an
area or less individuals in an area.
(For a simple illustration on the effects of this factors in a population, refer to the attached powerpoint)
The question now is how does population grow? How do they measure the growth of population? With these questions, scientists
came up with the idealized models to describe the two kind of population growth. These are exponential growth and logistic growth.
Before we proceed with these two models, lets take a look first on the concept of carrying capacity(k) for its known also to affect the
presentations of population growth with these models. Carrying capacity is defined as the maximum population size that can be
supported by the available resources. There can only be as many organisms as the environmental resource can support. Now, lets
have the two models of population growth.
1. Exponential growth - a population’s per capita(per individual) growth rate stays the same regardless of population size making
the population grow faster and faster as it gets larger. In nature, populations may grow exponentially for some period of time but they
will ultimately be limited by resource availability. Exponential growth produces a j-shaped curve.
2. Logistic growth - a population’s per capita(per individual) growth rate gets smaller and smaller as population size approaches
a maximum imposed by limited resources in the environment known as the carrying capacity. The logistic growth produces an S-
shaped curve.

For better understanding, see the attached powerpoint for some examples of exponential and logistic growth. You could also see the
powerpoint for sample images on the types of dispersion of species and all others.