People and Population:

People and Population:

Population
Population
General Principles of
General Principles
Population Growth of
Population Growth
Population

Refers to the group of individuals of same

species living in the same geographic area
at the same time.
It is often defined by demographers
according to the specific needs of the
research and researcher.
Biotic Potential

Refers to the ability of a population of living

species to increase under ideal
environmental conditions – sufficient food
supply, no predators, and a lack of disease.
An organism’s rate of reproduction and the
size of each litter are the primary
determining factors for biotic potential.

(ref. https://faculty.mtsac.edu/cbriggs/Biol-1%20Lab%2012%20Population%20Growth
%20FA16.pdf)
Differences in Biotic Potential
It only lays a single egg every two years.
They wait for their offspring to make it on their
own (usually within two years) before
producing another offspring. They can live up
to 40+ years in captivity but probably
much less in the wild. - Philippine Eagle
Many large mammals, like humans or
elephants, will only produce one offspring
per year and some small organisms, like
insects, will produce thousands of
offspring per year.
Organisms do not tend to fulfill their biotic
potential because most species do not live
under ideal environmental conditions.
At some point, population growth will be
hindered by predators, disease, changes in
environment, a lack of available food, or a
combination of these factors.
Differences in Biotic Potential

Some small organisms, like insects, will

produce thousands of offspring per year.

Twospotted spider mite females can lay up

to 84 eggs during their life cycle.
Differences in Biotic Potential

Humans have a lower biotic potential than

most other organisms and yet, human
population continues to grow steadily.
We have mechanisms for preventing and
treating diseases, the ability to grow and
produce food, and humans lack natural
predators.
Environmental Resistance

Refers to the sum of the environmental

factors (such as drought, mineral
deficiencies, and competition) that tend to
restrict the biotic potential of an
organism or kind of organism and impose a
limit on numerical increase

(ref. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environmental%20resistance)
Carrying Capacity
Refers to the maximum number of a given
species that can be sustained by
resources in a given environment.
When a population is nearing its carrying
capacity, the amount of resources used is
equal to the amount of resources being
produced.
It is at this time individuals start competing;
some may die and others may not reproduce
because of the lack of resources. Conditions
are no longer ideal and as a result, these
individuals cannot reach their full biotic
potential.
Question:

How does COVID-19 pandemic affects the population in our country?

What measures have to be done to save the population?

 Demography:
Demography:
Principles Governing
Principles
Human Governing
Populations
Human Populations
Demography

Refers to the study of human populations

– their size, composition and distribution
across space – and the process through
which populations change.
Births, deaths and migration are the ‘big
three’ of demography, jointly producing
population stability or change.
Population

Principal determinants of population

growth:
• fertility,
• mortality, and
• migration.
There are only two ways to enter a
population by birth and by in-migration, while
there are two ways to leave a population, by
death and by out-migration.
Fertility • The human female is generally fertile
from early teens to about mid-forties. The
human male generally remains fertile
throughout adulthood, though sperm
count and quality diminish from middle-
age onward.
• Women ovulate at about the fourteenth
day of their cycle, this obviously being
the most fertile time for females.
• Men can ejaculate and produce sperm at
any time of the month, but their libido dips
occasionally, which may be in relation to
an internal cycle.

(ref. https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/fertility.htm)
(ref. https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/health-information/3a-
populations/fertility-mortality-migration)
Mortality

• The effect of mortality on population

structures is to reduce the component
of the population in which the mortality
occurs.
• Historically, the most dangerous ages
were infancy and old age.

(ref. https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/health-information/3a-
populations/fertility-mortality-migration)
Migration

• In areas where natural disasters or

politico-military concerns lead to entire
populations being displaced the initial
population structure will be unchanged,
though post-migration the population will
have altered to reflect those who have
survived the process, typically showing
increases in older children and younger
adults.

(ref. https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/health-information/3a-
populations/fertility-mortality-migration)
 Conception and gestation are A plant's zygotic life begins at
important components of the fertilization. Its vegetative life
reproductive process and a begins at germination.
hallmark of fertility in animals.
Fertility
(ref. https://juniperpublishers.com/jdvs/pdf/JDVS.MS.ID.555656.pdf) (ref. https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/E_Lacey_Onset_1986.pdf)
 Mortality
Explanations for rates of natural mortality have generally fallen into two classes: intrinsic or extrinsic.
Intrinsic explanations are based on long-standing correlations reported between life span and individual metabolic rate.
Extrinsic explanations of mortality are based on the observation that organisms in natural environments typically die as a
result of disease, predation or accident, well before they reach their maximum possible life span.
(ref. https://people.clas.ufl.edu/gillooly/files/predicting_mortality.pdf)
 Migration

Scenarios for the competition experienced by a

focal alpine plant following climate warming:
If the focal plant species (green) fails to migrate, it
competes either with its current community (yellow)
that also fails to migrate (scenario 1) or, at the other
extreme, with a novel community (orange) that has
migrated upwards from lower elevation (scenario 2).
If the focal species migrates upwards to track
climate, it competes either with its current community
that has also migrated (scenario 3) or, at the other
extreme, with a novel community (blue) that has
persisted (scenario 4).

(ref. https://ecologicallyoriented.wordpress.com/category/plant-biology/)
Think it over!

Given what we know about population growth, what do you think of China’s policies
that limit the number of children a family can have?

Do you agree with it? Why, or why not?

What other ways might a country of over 1.3 billion people manage its population?
 Questions:

1. Why is the population of the Philippines, and especially Metro Manila, so dense?
What is the relationship between this and science?
2. Do you think humanity will eventually go extinct? For what reason?
3. When human populations approach Earth's carrying capacity, what kind of future
do you envision?