Unit 3- Populations Vocabulary

Question 1

Age Structure Diagram

Answer 1

A model that predicts the population growth and by a shape.

Question 2

Biocapacity

Answer 2

A term in ecological footprint accounting meaning the amount of biologically productive Land and Sea available to us.

Question 3

Birth Control

Answer 3

The effort to control the number of children one bears, particularly by reducing the frequency of pregnancy.

Question 4

Carrying Capacity

Answer 4

The maximum population size that a given environment can sustain.

Question 5

Contraception

Answer 5

The deliberate attempt to prevent pregnancy despite sexual intercourse.

Question 6

Crude Birth Rate

Answer 6

The number of births per 1,000 individuals for a given time period.

Question 7

Crude Death Rate

Answer 7

The number of deaths per 1,000 individuals for a given time period.

Question 8

Demographic Transition

Answer 8

A theoretical model of economic and cultural change that explains the declining death rates and birth rates that occurred in Western nations as they became industrialized. The model holds that industrialization caused these rates to fall naturally by decreasing mortality and by lessening the need for large families. Parents would therefore choose to invest in a quality of life rather than quantity of children.

Question 9

Demography

Answer 9

A social science that applies the principle of population ecology to study of statistical change in human populations.

Question 10

Density-dependent Factor

Answer 10

A limiting factor whose effects on the a population increase or decrease depending on the population density.

Question 11

Density-independent Factor

Answer 11

A limiting factor whose effects on a population are constant regardless of population density.

Question 12

Dieback

Answer 12

Refers to a rapid increase in numbers experienced by a population of organisms that has temporary exceeded, or overshot, it’s carrying capacity. Organisms at low trophic levels such as rodents or deer, as well as weed seeds of plants, experience dieback most often.

Question 13

Doubling Time

Answer 13

Is the time it takes for a population to double in size / value.

Question 14

Emigration

Answer 14

The departure of individuals from a population.

Question 15

Exponential Growth

Answer 15

The increase of a population(or of anything) by a fixed percentage each year.

Question 16

Generalist

Answer 16

A species that can survive in a wide array of habitats or use a wide array of resources.

Question 17

Immigration

Answer 17

The arrival of individuals from outside a population.

Question 18

Infant Mortality Rate

Answer 18

The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1000 live birth in a population.

Question 19

Invasive Species

Answer 19

A species that spreads widely and rapidly becomes dominant in a community, interfering with the community’s normal functioning.

Question 20

K-selected

Answer 20

The term denoting a species with low biotic potential whose members produce a small number of offspring and take a long time to gestate and raise each of their young, but invest heavily in promoting the survival and growth of these few offspring. Populations of K - selected species are generally regulated by density - dependent factors.

Question 21

Life Expectancy

Answer 21

The average number of years that individuals in a particular age groups are likely to continue to live.

Question 22

Limiting Factors

Answer 22

A physical, chemical, or biological characteristic of the environment that restrains population growth.

Question 23

Logistic Growth Curve

Answer 23

A plot that shows how the initial exponential growth of a population is slowed and finally brought to a standstill by limiting factor.

Question 24

Migration

Answer 24

Movement from one part of something to another.

Question 25

Rate of Natural Increase/ Natural Rate of Population Change

Answer 25

The rate of change in population size resulting from birth and death rates alone, excluding migration also called natural rate of population change.

Question 26

Negative Population Growth

Answer 26

A population size gets smaller, reducing the number of people inhabiting a country.

Question 27

Overshoot

Answer 27

The amount by which humanity’s resource use, as measured by its ecological footprint, has surpassed its long-term capacity to support us.

Question 28

Population Density

Answer 28

The number of individuals within a population per unit area.

Question 29

Population Distribution

Answer 29

The spiral arrangement of organisms within a particular area.

Question 30

Population Growth Rate

Answer 30

The rate of change in a population’s size per unit time(generally expressed in percent per year), taking into account births, deaths, immigration, and emigration.

Question 31

Linear Growth

Answer 31

The characteristic of growing by the same amount of each unit of time, a diagonal straight line.

Question 32

R-selected

Answer 32

Term denoting a species with high biotic potential whose number is produced a large number of offspring in a relatively short time but do not care for their young after birth. Populations of r-selected species are generally regulated by density-independent factors.

Question 33

Replacement Fertility

Answer 33

The total fertility rate (TFR)that maintains a stable population size.

Question 34

Rule of 70

Answer 34

The rule of 70 is a means of estimating the number of years it takes for x amount to double.

Question 35

Rule of 70

Answer 35

The rule of 70 is a means of estimating the number of years it takes for x amount to double.

Question 36

Sex Ratio

Answer 36

The proportion of males to females in a population.

Question 37

Specialiat

Answer 37

A species that can survive only in a narrow range of habitats that contains very specific resources.

Question 38

Survivorship Curves

Answer 38

A graph that shows how the likelihood of death for members of a population varies with age.

Question 39

Total Fertility Rate(TFR)

Answer 39

The average number of children born per member of a population during her lifetime.