TOPIC 4

POPULATION ECOLOGY
4.1 What is population ecology?
4.2 Population growth
4.3 Pattern of distribution and dispersion
4.4 Population change and regulation
4.5 Life history
 4.1 Population Ecology
Population = the total number of individuals of a given biological species
found in one place at one time

Populations can be described by:

• Size: How many total individuals there are?
• Density: How many individuals per unit of area?
• Dispersion: How are individuals in a population arranged spatially relative
to another? Do they occur in clumps or are they evenly spread apart?
• Occupancy: Does a species or member of a population occur in a given
habitat, or is it absent?
• Population distribution: Where does a population occur in space?
• Geographic range: What are the furthest geographic limits of where a
species occurs?
 Population Ecology
Population ecology
• Studies the distribution and abundance of
organisms
• Examines how and why populations change over
time
• Aims to understand the spatial and temporal
patterns in the abundance and distribution of
organisms and of the mechanisms that produce
those patterns
• The science of population dynamics in space and
time
 Population Size
Population size (abundance, N) = The total number of organisms in a population
How to determine population size?
1. Complete census 2. Population size
estimation (sampling
• Counting each individual method)
present within the
population • Involves mathematical
• Can be difficult, if not and statistical models
impossible • Examples:
− Capture-recapture
− Camera trapping
− Sampling: Quadrat and
transect
3. Population index
• Use of data (other than
number of individuals) to
represent actual
abundance
• Example of data:
Frequency of animal tracks
or scat
• Can be biased and less
accurate
 Capture-Recapture
• For mobile animals
• Also allow the estimate of birth rate and death rate

Petersen method
• Involves only two sampling events
• Time interval between the two events is short

Capture of animals Mark Release Recapture

Total population size (N) = Total captured (1st sampling) x Total recaptured (2nd sampling)
Total marked recaptured (2nd sampling)
Capture-Recapture
The validity of this technique depends on a
number of assumptions:

1. The marking technique has no effect on

the mortality of individuals

2. The marking technique does not affect

the probability of being recapture

3. There is no immigration or emigration of

marked or unmarked individuals in the
interval t1 to t2
4. There is no mortality or reproduction in
the interval t1 to t2
 Capture-Recapture
Calculation example:

1. 100 animals were captured and marked

2. When recaptured, the following data obtained
Number of marked animals = 25
Number of unmarked animals = 50

Total population size = 100 x 75

25
= 300 animals
 Camera Trapping
• Camera trapping is used to estimate animal density
• Especially useful for studying rare and nocturnal animals
Ab Razak, M. H. S., Hambali, K., Amaludin, N. A., Rak, A. E., & Malek, N. H. A. (2019, July). Density of Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in Gunung Basor-Stong Utara Forest Reserve,
Kelantan, Malaysia. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 269, No. 1, p. 012001). IOP Publishing.
 Sampling
Sampling is a technique used to find a small proportion of a population and use this
to small section in order to draw conclusions regarding the rest of the population.

Quadrat Transect
 Quadrat Sampling
Quadrat Sampling
Count all the individuals on several quadrats of known size and then
extrapolate the average count to the whole area.

Estimates require:
• The area of each quadrat must be known
• The population of each quadrat examined must be determined
accurately
• The quadrats must be representative of the whole area i.e. achieved by
random sampling
 Quadrat Sampling
Steps in quadrat sampling
Select quadrat
shape Select quadrat
size Determine
number of
quadrats Decide
placement of
quadrats Quantify
organisms in
quadrats

Detailed steps: https://online.anyflip.com/kykv/nyjy/mobile/

Transect Sampling
Transect sampling
• Involves use of single line which stretched
over the area to be studied

• Used to sample changes along an

environmental gradient
– Example: geological, climatic or
altitudinal gradients

• The length of a transect depends on the

gradient under investigation
– Rocky shore transects may only stretch
1–200 meters
– Montane transects may exceed several
kilometers
 Transect Sampling
Types of transect
1. Intercept line transect

2. Point intercept
 Transect Sampling
Types of transect
3. Belt transect

4. Ladder transect
 Population Index
• Involves the use of data that are correlated with actual abundance

• An index should be validated by checking its correlation with rigorous

estimates of population size

• Examples of data:
- Number of fecal pellets
- Vocalization frequency
- Pelt records
- Catch per unit fishing effort Fecal pellet Pelt record
- Number of artifacts

Catch per unit Artifact

fishing effort
 Population Density
Population density = The number of individuals per unit area

• It is a measure of relative abundance

• Can be converted to a rough estimate population size through simple

multiplication
o 1 hectare of good habitat = 1.4 pairs of birds Population density

o Size of habitat = 2000 hectares

o Total number of bird pairs (N) = 1.4 pairs x 2000 hectares = 2800 pairs Population size
 Population Density

• Generally, larger organisms have lower population densities because they

need more resources

• High densities make it easier to find mates, but increase competition and
vulnerability to predation

• Low densities make it harder to find mates, but individuals enjoy plentiful
resources and space

• Reduced resources can lead to overcrowding, disease, predation,

parasitism, and extinction
 4.2 Population Growth
Four ways that a population can change in size:

Birth Death

Change in
population
abundance

Immigration Emigration
Arrival of individuals Departure of
from outside the individuals from
population the population

Growth rate = (Birth rate + Immigration rate) - (Death rate + Emigration rate)
Age Structure
• Age structure = The relative
numbers of organisms of
each age within a population

• Age determination
- annual growth rings
- scales in fishes
- horns in sheep
- condition of dentition
 Age Structure
• Age structure affects population size

• Wide base → many young

- High reproduction
- Rapid population growth

• Even age distribution

- Births = deaths
- Stable population
 Population Growth: Exponential Growth
A population increases by a fixed percent

• A fixed percent of a large number

produces a large increase
 Population Growth: Exponential Growth
• Exponential growth cannot be
sustained indefinitely

• It occurs in nature for small

populations with ideal conditions

• Rarely lasts for long

Population Growth: Sigmoid Growth
Limiting factor

• Physical, chemical, and biological

characteristics that restrain population
growth

• Example: Water, space, food, predators,

and disease

• Slow and stop exponential growth →

Stabilizes population size

Carrying capacity
• The maximum population size of a
species that its environment can sustain
Population Growth: Sigmoid Growth
 4.3 Pattern of distribution and dispersion
Dispersion patterns

• Also known as distribution

patterns

• Summarize the spatial

relationship between
members of a population
within a habitat at a particular
point in time

• Clumped
• Uniform
• Random
Can occur in plants and is Occurs with dandelion and Occurs in plants that drop
thought to result from other plants that have wind- their seeds straight to the
competition for below- dispersed seeds that ground, such as oak trees, or
ground resources such as germinate wherever they animals that live in groups
water, or secretion of happen to fall in a favorable (schools of fish or herds of
substances inhibiting the environment. elephants)
growth of nearby individuals.
In animals like penguins that
nest in large colonies,
uniform dispersion can occur
due to territorial behavior.