Bio112 Lecture 17 Population Biology 2 Flashcards
(14 cards)
What are the three types of population dispersal patterns?
Uniform (evenly spaced, often due to territorial behavior), Random (unpredictable, no strong attraction or repulsion), and Clumped (individuals grouped together, often around resources).
What do dispersal patterns tell us about a population?
They reveal behavior, resource availability, social interactions, and environmental pressures.
What are demographics in population ecology?
Statistical traits of a population like sex ratio, age structure, birth/death rates, immigration/emigration, and life expectancy.
What is a survivorship curve?
A graph showing the number of individuals surviving at each age.
What are the three types of survivorship curves?
Type I: high survival until old age (e.g., humans); Type II: constant mortality (e.g., birds); Type III: high infant mortality (e.g., fish, plants).
What is fecundity?
The biological potential to produce offspring.
How do life history strategies vary?
Some species reproduce early and often with little care (r-selected), others later with few, well-cared-for offspring (K-selected).
What is semelparity vs. iteroparity?
Semelparity: one reproductive event (e.g., salmon); Iteroparity: multiple events over a lifetime.
What limits population growth?
Resources like food, water, shelter, mates, as well as predators, disease, weather, and natural disasters.
What is exponential growth?
Growth under ideal conditions with no limits, resulting in a J-shaped curve.
What is logistic growth?
Growth that slows as the population approaches carrying capacity, forming an S-shaped curve.
What is carrying capacity (K)?
The maximum number of individuals that the environment can sustainably support.
What are density-dependent factors?
Factors that intensify as population density increases, such as competition, disease, and predation.
What are density-independent factors?
Factors unrelated to population density, such as weather events or natural disasters.
