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Population Growth and

Exam Review!

Populus Review

Nt = N0ert

What does this equation model in Populus?

Density-independent growth of a closed population:

continuous time formulation

Nt : is the population size at time t

N0 : is the initial population size

e : 2.718 (base of a natural log, a mathematical constant)

r : instantaneous per capita rate of growth

Populus Review Pt. 2

Nt = t N0

What does this equation model in Populus?

Density-independent growth of a closed population: discrete
time formulation.
Nt : is the population size at time t
N0 : is the initial population size
: is the per capita rate of growth per unit time t
Remember the Hint: = ert

(And remember that e is a mathematical constant)

Geometric Growth with Discrete Generations

Continued

Terms to know:

Distribution of a population: includes the size, shape, and

location of the area it occupies

Abundance: the total number of individuals, or biomass, of a

species present in a specified area (p.200)

Density: the number of individuals in a population per unit area

(p. 200)

Top-down Control: the control or influence of consumers on

ecosystem processes

Bottom-up Control: control of a community or ecosystem by

physical or chemical factors such as temperature or nutrient
availability (p. 397)

Carrying capacity (K): the maximum population of a species

that a particular ecosystem can sustain (p. 245)

Continued

Cohort: a group of individuals of the same age (p.226)

Cohort life table: a life table based on individuals born (or

beginning life in some other way) at the same time (p.226)

Dependent variable: the variable traditionally plotted on the

vertical, or Y axis of a scatter plot

Ecology: the study of the relationships between organisms and the

environment (p.1)

Stable Age Distribution: a population in which the proportion of

individuals in each age class is constant, as a result of age
specific survival, lx, and age specific reproduction, mx, remaining
constant over time

Ecosystem: a biological community plus all of the abiotic factors

influencing that community

Trophic Cascade: effects of predators on prey that alter

abundance, biomass, or productivity of a population, community,
or trophic level across more than one link in the food web.

+ Exponential Population Growth: population growth that

produces a J-shaped pattern of population increase. In
exponential population growth, the change in numbers with
time is the product of the per-capita rate of increase, r, and
population size, N. (p.243)

Geometric Population Growth: population growth in which

generations do not overlap and in which successive
generations differ in size by a constant ratio. (p. 242)

Geometric Rate of Increase: () the ratio of the population size

at two points in time: = Nt + 1lNt , where Nt + 1 is the size of the
population at some earlier time. (p.233)

Life Table: a table of age-specific survival and death, or

mortality, rates in a population. (p.226)

Sigmoidal population growth curve: an S-shaped pattern of

population growth, with the population size leveling off at the
carrying capacity of the environment

Geometric and Exponential

Population Growth

In the presence of abundant resources, populations can grown at

geometric or exponential rates

Phlox drumondii grow in discrete annual pulses. Populations of

insects that produce a single generation a year also grow in
pulses.

Growth by any population with pulsed reproduction can be

modeled as geometric population growth, in which successive
generations differ in size by a constant ratio.

We can compute the growth of a population or organisms whose

generations do not overlap by simply multiplying times the size
of the population and the number of offspring produced by this
population during a year.

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What does N signify?
What does signify?
What is the equation
used to determine ?

Exponential Growth

Continuous population growth in an unlimited environment can

be modeled as exponential population growth:
In the exponential model, r, is a constant,
whereas N is a variable.
Therefore, as population size, N, increases,
the rate of population increase, dN/dt, gets
larger and larger.

The exponential growth equation expresses the rate of

population growth, which is the change in numbers with change
in time, as the per capita rate of increase, r, times the
population size, N.

Population Dynamics: Patterns of

Survival

A survivorship curve summarizes the pattern of survival in a

population.

Life Tables: bookkeeping devices, list mortality, in a

population.

Cohort Life Table vs. Static Life Table

Age distribution: consists of the proportion of individuals of

different ages within a population.

You can use an age distribution to estimate survival by calculating

the difference in proportion of individuals in succeeding age classes

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Three Types of Survivorship Curves:

Which of these
illustrates the
pattern of
survival in mud
turtles?

Is this population growing?

X = Age (days)

nx = Number surviving to day x

lx

= Proportion surviving to day x

mx = Average number of seeds per individual during time

interval

lxmx

= Multiplication of the proportion surviving to day x and the

average number of seeds per individual during time interval

R0 = the net reproductive rate per individual

What does an R0 > 1.0 indicate about this population???

What is the generation

time?
What is R0?
Is this population growing?

Important!

= geometric rate of increase

n = sample size

X = sum of measurements of observations

a = Y intercept

b = regression coefficient, slope of the line

R0 = net reproductive rate

T = generation time

r = per capita rate of increase

K = carrying capacity

Imax = maximum per capita rate of increase; intrinsic rate of increase

N = population size

Nt : number of individuals at time t

N0 : initial number of individuals

e : base of natural logarithms

: true population mean

: significance level

X : independent variable

Y : dependent variable

t : time

r selection: a term referring to the per capita rate of increase; a

form of natural selection favoring higher population growth rate.
r selection is predicted to be strongest in disturbed habitats (p.
152)

What is K?
Carrying capacity

Body size and K