Unit 3 Notes - APES

3.1 - Generalists and Specialists

-​ Racoon vs Red panda (closely related) - different habitat & food needs - red panda - specialist or
niche species - neesd specific habitat & food - don’t digest cellulose so they needs bamboo,
raccoon can eat many things - wide diet - plants & mushrooms, small amphibians and insects -
more generalized - generalist species
-​ Specialists: Smaller range of tolerance, or narrower ecological niche makes them more prone to
extinction - ecological tolerance
-​ Narrow range of ecological tolerance - don’t tolerate changing ecosystems - specific food
requirements - if environemtanl disturbance disrupts ability of forest to grow bamboo, the
conditions are not as hospitable - cannot adapt to new conditions - more likely to BE
DISTURBED by invasive species
-​ Specific food requirements (bamboo)
-​ Less ability to adapt to new conditions
-​ Generalists: Larger range of tolerance, broader niche makes them less prone to extinction & more
likely to be invasive
-​ Large range of tolerance - broad niche - less prone to extinction, more likely to be
invasive - broad food availability - so they can easily switch diet to new food source if
one source becomes less available - very adaptable - more likely to be invasive - if they
come to ecosystem - very competitive, can utilize broad range of resources - they
compete with broad range of organisms - more likely to BE invasive
-​ Broad food req.
-​ High adaptability
-​ Specialists (koalas, pandas) - specific and specialized needs - less adaptable - very picky, can’t
easily change or shift to new resource - narrow tolerance - disadvantage when conditions are
changing - easily disturbed/disrupted, more likely to be endangered (koala, panda) more likely to
go extinct - when ecosystems are threatened, they don’t possess the adaptability
-​ narrow niche
-​ less adaptable because of specialized needs
-​ more likely to become extinct
-​ use a specific set of resources
-​ easily affected by changing conditions
-​ have an advantage when conditions are more constant
-​ Generalists (rats, racoons) - advantaged when conditions change - shift to new resources - high
range of tolerance
-​ broad niche
-​ adaptable to many environments
-​ less likely to become extinct
-​ use a variety of resources
-​ high range of tolerance
-​ have an advantage when conditions change
-​ FRQ Practice 3.1
 -​ Identify ONE characteristic of specialist species and explain how that characteristic
makes them more likely to become extinct than generalist species.
3.2 - K-selected and r-selected species
-​ Quality vs. Quantity
-​ K-selected - “quality” - quality over quantity - few offspring, but good care of them - live
a long time - can afford to spend energy and time on parenting - elephants
-​ reproductive strategies - represent quantity vs quality approach - both are
reproductive strategies/approaches that different species take to pass on genes -
all species pass on genes - two approaches to accomplish the goal - both work
and are suited to organisms - strategies
-​ Few offspring, heavy parental care to protect them
-​ Generally have fewer reproductive events than r-strategists
-​ Ex: most mammals, birds
-​ Long lifespan, long time to sexual maturity = low biotic potential = slow pop.
growth rate
-​ More likely to be disrupted by env. change or invasives
-​ R-selected - “quantity” - quantity over quality on how to pass on genes - many offspring
in hopes that some of them will survive - usually have short lives - only reproduce once -
can’t afford to produce a few offspring and take care of them - crank out offspring and
hope that some survive - ex. spiders (hundreds and hundreds of offspring, leave them to
fend for themselves)
-​ Many offspring, little to no care
-​ May reproduce only once, but generally reproduce many times throughout
lifespan
-​ Ex: insects, fish, plants
-​ Shorter lifespan, quick to sexual maturity = high biotic potential = high pop.
growth rate
-​ More likely to be invasive
-​ Better suited for rapidly changing env. conditions
-​ Traits or characteristics of r-selected & K-selected species
-​ It’s a Spectrum
-​ Oyster: 500 million a year
-​ Fish (Tuna): 6,000 a year
-​ Frog: 200 a year
-​ Hare: 12 a year
-​ Large Cat (Puma): 2 a year
-​ Chimpanzee: 1 every 5 year
-​ Spectrum of Parental Care
-​ Invasiveness & Disturbances
-​ K-selected
-​ Low biotic potential (rep. rate) = hard for pop. to recover after a disturbance (env.
change)
-​ High parental care means death of parent = death of offspring
 -​ Invasives (usually r) outcompete for resources with high biotic potential & rapid pop.
growth
-​ Less likely to adapt & more likely to go extinct
-​ R-selected
-​ High biotic potential (rep. rate) = more rapid pop. recovery after disturbance
-​ Low parental care means death of parent doesn’t impact offspring
-​ Not as impacted by invasive species since their pop. grow quickly
-​ More likely to be the invasive
-​ Larger pop. & faster generation time = higher chance of adaptation & lower chance of
extinction
-​ FRQ Practice 3.2
-​ Identify ONE characteristic of an r-selected species that could increase the likelihood of
the r-selected species becoming a more successful invasive species than K-selected
species
-​ Describe the relationship between Zebra Mussel and Unionid Mussel population density
in the Hudson River
3.3 - Survivorship curves
-​ Survivorship Curve: line that shows survival rate of a cohort (group of same-aged individuals) in
a pop. from birth to death
-​ Faster drop in line = quicker die-off of individuals
-​ Slower drop in line = longer avg. lifespan
-​ Type I, II, and III
-​ Type I (mostly K-selected)
-​ High survivorship early in life due to high parental care
-​ High survivorship in mid life due to large size & defensive behavior
-​ Rapid decrease in survivorship in late life as old age sets in
-​ Ex: most mammals
-​ Type II (in between r & K)
-​ Steadily decreasing survivorship throughout life
-​ Type III (mostly r-selected)
-​ High mortality (low survivorship) early in life due to little to no parental care
-​ Few make it to midlife; slow, steady decline in survivorship in mid life
-​ Even fewer make it to adulthood; slow decline in survivorship in old age
-​ Ex: insects, fish, plants
-​ FRQ Practice 3.3
-​ Describe the trend in survivorship shown in this graph. Justify which type of survivorship
curve these data represent.
3.4 - Carrying Capacity
-​ Carrying Capacity (k): the max. Number of individuals in a pop. that an ecosystem can support
(based on limiting resources)
-​ Fig. 1 is theoretical
-​ Fig. 2 is more realistic
-​ Pop. briefly “overshoots” (k) and then die-off happens
-​ Carrying Capacity (k)
 -​ Highest pop. size an ecosystem can support based on limiting resources:
-​ Food
-​ Water
-​ Habitat (nesting sites, space)
-​ Overshoot: when a population briefly exceeds carrying capacity
-​ Ex: deer breed in fall, give birth all at once in spring; sudden spike in pop. =
overshoot
-​ Consequence of overshoot: resource depletion ex: overgrazing in deer
-​ Die-off: sharp decrease in pop. size when resource depletion (overshoot) leads to many
individuals dying
-​ Ex: many deer starve with too many new fawns feeding in spring
-​ Die-off Example
-​ Reindeer of St. Paul Island
-​ 25 introduced in 1910
-​ Growth was gradual (10’-30’), then exponential (30’-37’)
-​ Carrying capacity was overshot
-​ Sharp die-off lead to pop. crash as food resource (lichen) were severely depleted
-​ Real pops. don’t always fluctuate around carrying capacity. If resource depletion is severe
enough, total pop. crash can occur
-​ Predator-Prey
-​ Hare pop. increase due to low predator pop. (lynx)
-​ Lynx pop. increase due to increase in food (hare)
-​ Increasing lynx pop. limits hare pop; leads to die-off
-​ Hare die-off decreases lynx food source, leading to die-off
-​ Hare pop. increase due to low predator pop. (lynx)
-​ FRQ Practice 3.4
-​ Explain the impact that the canine virus had on the moose population based on the graph.
3.5 - Population growth
-​ Pop. Characteristics
-​ Size (N): total # of individuals in a given area at a given time
-​ Larger = safer from pop. decline
-​ Density: # of individuals/area
-​ Ex: (12 panthers/km2)
-​ High density = higher competition, possibility for disease outbreak, possibility of
depleting food source
-​ Distribution: how individuals in pop. are spaced out compared to each other
-​ Random (trees)
-​ Uniform (territorial animals)
-​ Clumped (herd/group animals)
-​ Pop. Characteristics & Growth Factors
-​ Sex Ratio: ratio of males to females. Closer to 50:50, the more ideal for breeding
(usually)
-​ Die-off or bottleneck effect can lead to skewed sex ratio (not enough females)
limiting pop. growth
 -​ Density-Dependent Factors: factors that influence pop. growth based on size:
-​ Ex: food, competition for habitat, water, light, even disease
-​ All of these things limit pop. growth based on their size; aka - small pop. don’t
experience these, large do
-​ Density-Independent Factors: factors that influence pop. growth independent of their size
-​ Ex: natural disasters (flood, hurricane, tornado, fire)
-​ It doesn’t matter how big or small a pop. is, natural disasters limit them both
-​ Ex. of Density-Dependent Factor
-​ Food is a density dependent factor. (also a limiting resource)
-​ When twice as much food was added to the dish, both species increased carrying
capacity by about 2x
-​ Biotic Potential = max. potential growth rate, with no limiting resources
-​ May occur initially, but limiting resources (competition, food, disease, predators) slow
growth, & eventually limit pop. to carrying capacity (k)
-​ Biotic potential = exponential growth
-​ Logistic growth = initial rapid growth, then limiting factors limit pop. to K
-​ Calculating Population Change
-​ Population Size = (immigrations + births) - (emigrations + deaths)
-​ Ex: An elk pop. of 52 elk has 19 births and 6 deaths in a season, and 5 new elk
immigrate to the herd and 0 elk emigrate from the heart
-​ (19+5) - (6+0) = + 18 elk
-​ 52 + 18 = 70 elk
-​ FRQ Practice 3.5
-​ Calculate the percent change in the population size of a 14 wolf pack that experiences 5
deaths, 3 births, and 4 new wolves released into the pack from a nearby wildlife
sanctuary.
3.6 - Age Structure Diagrams
-​ Age Cohorts
-​ Age cohorts & growth = groups of similarly aged individuals
-​ 0-14 = prereproductive; 15 - 44 = reproductive age; 45 + = post reproductive
-​ Size difference between 0-14 & 15-44 indicates growth rate
-​ Larger 0-14 cohort = current & future growth
-​ Roughly equal 0-14 & 15-44 = slight growth/stable
-​ Larger 15-44 = pop. decline
-​ Extreme Pyramid shape = rapid growth
-​ Less extreme pyramid = slow, stable growth
-​ House = stable, little to no growth
-​ Narrowest @ base = declining pop.
-​ Practice Reading Diagrams
-​ Highest to Lowest Growth Rate
-​ India > US > China > Germany
-​ Number of 0-14 Individuals
-​ India = 360 million
-​ US = 62 million
 -​ Germany = 11.5 million
-​ China = 270 million
-​ FRQ Practice 3.6
-​ Identify the country with the slowest pop. growth rate and explain your answer
3.7 - Total Fertility Rate
3.8 - Human population dynamics
3.9 - Demographic transition
Unit 3 review