POPULATION DENSITY DISPERSION

Crude density  In dispersion, the patterns are not easily

 Number of individuals per unit area or discernible. There should be quantitative
volume ways to distinguish one from the other.

Ecological density Patterns of Dispersion

 Number of individuals per habitable unit These patterns are produced by (1) social interactions
area or volume within populations, (2) structure of the physical
environment, (3) a combination of both.
 May not be appropriate for clonal
organisms, or those whose individuals or a. Random patterns (Random dispersion)
modules are difficult to distinguish o An individual has an equal
o Ex. corals probability of occurring anywhere in
an area
 Organisms may be unitary or modular o Processes:
o Genet – A genetic individual arising  Neutral interactions between
from a zygote individuals and between
o Modules produced asexually by the individuals and local
genet are ramets environment
 They may be physically linked o Individuals are randomly spaced
to the parent or separate within the community
 They are clones or exact  Not that much common in
copies of the parent genet nature
 This occurs as there are no
strong interactions between
the individuals
 Show neutral interactions
b. Regular patterns (Uniform dispersion)
o Processes:
 Antagonistic interactions
between individuals or local
depletion of resources
o Individuals are uniformly spaced
within the population
 Mainly results from the
competition for resources
 Population density declines with increasing  Therefore there are
organism size. aggressive interactions
o Self-thinning between the neighbors
c. Clumped patterns
 Species living at low population densities o Attraction between individuals or
generally have small, restricted distributions. attraction of individuals to a
common resource
 3 factors important for the Classification of o “contagious dispersion”
Commonness and Rarity by Rabinowitz o Most common pattern that can be
o Geographic range (extensive vs. observed in populations
restrictive) o Individuals are bunched into groups
o Habitat tolerance (broad vs. narrow) within the population
o Local population size (large vs. small)
  Mainly results from the  On large scales, individuals within a
response to the unevenly population are clumped.
distributed resources in o Why?
their environment  Because the environment
 also happens if there are varies and individuals
positive interactions aggregate in areas where the
(mutual attraction) between environment in favorable.
individuals
o Advantages: Dispersal can increase or decrease population
 Provides protection from densities.
predators  Density of predator populations can
 Facilitates finding mates and increase with increased prey density.
reproduction  Ongoing dispersal can join numerous
 Decrease the energetic cost subpopulations to form a metapopulation.
of food search o Subpopulation = a part of a larger
population that sustains a limited
exchange of individuals through
immigration and emigration.
o Metapopulation = group of
subpopulations living on habitat
patches connected by exchange of
individuals among patches

AGE STRUCTURE AND SEX RATIO

 Observations:
o Kenyan population is fairly young
and is growing

 Ecological concepts are very scale specific. A

pattern in 1x1 meter can be very different
from a patter in 20x20 meter

 On small scales, individuals within

populations are distributed in patterns that
may be random, regular, or clumped.
The effect of sex ratio

NE = (4NmNf)/(Nm + Nf)

 mx = the number of offspring of a given age

LIFE TABLES class
 Used to calculate and summarize important  lxmx = allows for a number of applications
parameters relating to the growth of for management of populations
populations, such as survivorship, mortality, o ex.
and life expectancy  Age class with the most
contribution to reproduction
is 6-7, therefore, to make
sure the population does not
die out, we have to take care
of this population.
 If this life table is a life table
for fishes, we can infer that
those with lxmx that, when
subtracted to R0, still
generates a difference
 Proportion surviving = survivorship greater than 1, then catching
fishes of these age classes
 Age-specific/Cohort Life Tables should not affect the growth
o Cohort is followed over time of the fish population. In
o Requires frequent censuses contrast, if we catch fishes of
 Time-specific Life Tables (Static Life age class 6-7, then that
Tables) would cause the population
o Useful for long-lived organisms to shrink because it
o Assumes stationarity and number contributes the most to the
born each year is the same population’s reproduction.
 R0 = over the average life span of a typical
Birth rate organism, it will produce this number of
 Number of young born per female in a offspring on average
period of time o The population of lions in this life
Fecundity schedule table increases its population by 33%
 Tabulation of birth rates for females of for every generation (roughly every 3
different ages in a population years).
o If R0 is 1, then the population is not
growing. If <1, the population is
shrinking.

 Life tables are for females, mostly.

 POPULATION GROWTH organisms to ruderals, stress-tolerators, and
 The life table will ultimately allow us to competitive strategies. Few species can be
compute net reproductive rate, which can unambiguously assigned to a strategy in
be converted to r, the intrinsic growth both schemes. Most species exhibit
rate, which can then be used in modeling combinations of traits of alternative
the pattern of population growth. schemes. Why do you think that is so?
 Population growth accelerates.
SURVIVORSHIP CURVES
Two patterns of growth:  Describe the intrinsic properties of a species
 exponential growth (J-shaped curve) with regards to life history strategy
o growth that does not occur in
discrete generations, but is instead Types:
continuous  Type I
o rate of population growth increases o Most individuals lost when older
over time (Higher mortality in elderly)
 logistic growth (S-shaped curve). o Found in vertebrates especially those
o Growth pattern that happens when with parental care
resources are depleted and  Type II
population growth rate declines then o Constant mortality rate across age
eventually stops groups
 Carrying capacity o In Hydra and many birds
 The population size at  Type III
which growth stops o Most individuals lost when young
 Represents the (Higher mortality in young
number of individuals individuals)
that an environment o Found in many invertebrates and
can support plants
o Population growth is highest when
N = K/2 and ceases when N = K. N is
population size.
o As N gets closer to K, environmental
factors increasingly impede further
population growth.

 Age (x-axis)
o Maximum longevity
 Logarithmic scale of nx (y-axis)

 Despite the name, life history strategies

followed by species or populations are
outcomes of evolution, not conscious
choice. The classical scheme assigns
organisms to either r-selected or K-
selected strategies. Newer schemes divide
 invests a greater proportion of their
energy budget to reproduction.
 When adult survival is higher, organisms
defer reproduction to a later age and
allocate a smaller proportion of their
resources to reproduction.
o High adult survival = delayed
maturity

Two Types:
LIFE HISTORY STRATEGIES  r-selected
 Life history o observed in opportunistic small
o Any aspect of the developmental organisms with good dispersal
pattern and mode of reproduction of capabilities
an organism that results from  strongest in species that
evolution (and not “conscious often colonizes new or
decision”) disturbed habitats
o Adaptations of an organism that o Characteristic of unpredictable or
influence aspects of its biology, such variable environments
as reproduction, survival, size, and o have short life spans, rapid
age at reproductive maturity. development
o Aspects include: o early reproductive age
 Body size o Semelparous
 Developmental stages  Reproduce only once and
 Instars typically die after that
 Metamorphosis o fast population growth; variable
 Senescence – the process of population size below K
timing, aging, degeneration,  K is carrying capacity
and death o Type III survivorship, no parental
 Reproductive patterns care
 Ability to disperse
 K-selected
 Organisms that produce larger offsprings o Large organisms with poor
are constrained to produce fewer. dispersal capability but good
o Why? Organisms take in energy at a competitive ability
limited rate due to external  Favors more efficient
environment conditions and internal utilization of resources such
constraints. These constraints are as food nutrients
fundamental to the principle of  Most prominent in
allocation, which states that if an populations near carrying
organism uses energy for one capacity most of the time
function such as growth, it reduces o Characteristic of predictable
the amount of energy available for environments
other functions such as o Long-lived, slow development
reproduction. o Late reproductive age
o Iteroparous
 When adult survival is lower, organisms  Can reproduce many times
begin reproducing at an earlier age and o Slow population growth; population
size around K
  Likely because of late rate of growth becomes slower until
reproductive age it stabilizes at the carrying capacity.
o Type I or II survivorship
TRADE-OFFS IN REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES
 Number of offspring per reproductive event:
o Large litters or clutches do not
increase fitness since these are offset
by higher mortality from predators,
lower body weight of offspring,
higher feeding costs, etc.
 Present vs. Future Reproduction
o Selection favors age of reproduction
that occurs before survivorship
declines markedly
o Semelparity vs. Iteroparity
 Age at Sexual Maturity

 Most species are a mix of these two

strategies.

Growth patterns are related to life history

strategies.

 Describes 3 types of life history strategies

o Ruderal – small, shortlived; allocate
more energy to reproduction,
dispersal
 Persist in locations
experiencing high
disturbance, meaning that
organisms with this life
 r-selected  J-shaped strategy have several
o Exceeding the carrying capacity K characteristics that endure
means the number of individuals in any mechanism that limits
the population often exceed the them by destroying their
ability of the environment to support biomass (predation ???)
these numbers  the population will  High disturbance, low stress
increase, then crash, then increase life history strategy
again, then crash. o Stress-tolerant = allocate more
 Evident in pests energy to maintenance
 K-selected  S-shaped  Large body sizes, longer lives
o Population grow fastest at about  Rarely reproduces
halfway the carrying capacity  Low disturbance, high stress
o As the slope population size  Stress – induced by
approach the carrying capacity, the environmental
 conditions that limit  Irruptions
an organism’s growth o When populations that typically have
 Grow slowly low densities and stable numbers
o Competitors = allocate more energy suddenly explode in numbers
to growth, resource acquisition, and o Example:
competition  Outbreaks of coral-eating
 Faster growth but not as fast starfish
as the ruderal
 Low disturbance, low stress DENSITY DEPENDENT VERSUS DENSITY
 Organisms have the INDEPENDENT FACTORS
capacity to grow well,  Density dependent factors
but this results to
competition among
them.

POPULATION REGULATION o In populations that are regulated

 Stems from observations that show that more when their densities are higher
different species have different patterns with  Density increases = birth rate
regards to the sizes of their populations decreases = death rate
increases
Patterns of population fluctuation o Found in K-selected species
 Small-magnitude irregular fluctuations o Usually lead to increased mortality
o Year to year random changes of one percentage as population density
order of magnitude (base 10) or less increases
 Large-scale irregular fluctuations
o Peaks may be several orders of  Density-independent factors
magnitude higher than the lows
o Typical of r-selected species like
most insect pests
 Cycles
o Regular changes with fixed periods,
magnitude can be large or small
o Best known examples:
 4 year cycles of microtine
rodents (lemmings and voles)
 10 year cycles of hare,
grouse, and lynx
o Typically k-selected species
 o Density’s impact on birth and death  And this depends on the
rates are somewhat fixed, fairly level of productivity, that is,
stable how much food is available,
how much photosynthesis is
occurring in the ecosystem
that they are exploiting

QUESTIONS
 Density-dependent or density-
independent?
o Density of humans and their
mortality due to typhoons?
o Density of ant colonies and their
mortality due to (paghuhukay XD)
o Density of invertebrates and their
mortality due to predation
Barnacles
 Logs are density independent
o Why?

 Abiotic factors are density-independent??

 Biotic factors are density-dependent??
o ^ Not a good generalization.

 Ecosystem Exploitation Hypothesis

o “The factor that regulates the
population of one species is usually
either its own kind or a predator or
herbivore of that species.”