10.

0 Population Ecology
10.1 Animal Behavior and Influence on Populations

 You should be able to justify the selection of the kind of data needed to
answer scientific questions about the relevant mechanism that organisms use
to respond to changes in their external environment.
 You should be able to analyze data that indicate how organisms exchange
information in response to internal changes and external cues, and which can
change behavior.
 You should be able to create a representation that describes how organisms
exchange information in response to internal changes and external cues, and
which can change behavior.
 You should be able to describe how organisms exchange information in
response to internal changes and external cues.

Animal Behavior
 Behavior is a response to stimuli
 Behavior can be selected for or against

Categories of Behavior
 Innate
o Kinesis and Taxis
 Kinesis Undirected movement response
 Ex. Woodlice move in response to humidity to get to
comfort zone
 Taxis Directed movement (towards or away from stimuli)
 Ex. Moths flying towards light
o Fixed Action Pattern
 Behaviors with low variation in a species.
 Runs to completion
 Ex. Egg retrieval behavior in geese: the geese will roll
objects back into the nest.
o Communication
 Can be chemical signals, auditory signals, or physical displays
 Allows them to send information to other animals about the
environment around them
 Ex. Bees dance to communicate locations of nests,
flowers, water, etc.
 Learned
o Classical Conditioning
  Use an innate response that’s paired with a potent stimulus.
Pair this response with a neutral stimulus. After conditioning,
the animal will use the old response to the new stimulus,
without the old stimulus also being present.
 Classic example is Pavlov’s dog. Dog is attracted to food.
Ring a bell when you get food for the dog. After some
time, the dog will now be attracted/salivate at the sound
of a bell.
o Operant Conditioning
 Conditioning that relies on reward/punishment to behaviors.
 Reinforcement uses rewards to encourage behavior.
 Punishment is used to discourage behavior.
 Best example is again, a dog. You can train a dog to do
tricks by reinforcing their desired behaviors with treats.
 Imprinting
o Imprinted behavior’s essential feature is the “critical period” in
development during which the animal fixates upon another animal or
object.
 Ex. Baby birds have a critical period during which they normally
fixate upon a parent. If something else is present during critical
period, they will fixate on it instead.

Big picture Behavior

 Behaviors evolve through natural selection; the range of behaviors available
to an animal is determined by the genes which makes up their structure.
 Some behaviors increase fitness and are selected for while other behaviors
decrease fitness and are selected against.

10.2 Modeling Population Growth

 You should be able to justify the selection of the kind of data needed to
answer scientific questions about the interaction of populations within
communities.
 You should be able to apply mathematical routines to quantities that describe
communities composed of populations of organisms that interact in complex
ways.
 You should be able to predict the effects of a change in the community's
populations on the community.
 You should be able to use theories and models to make scientific claims
and/or predictions about the effects of variation within populations on
survival and fitness.
  You should be able to make scientific claims and predictions about how
species diversity within an ecosystem influences ecosystem stability.

Populations
 Group of organisms of the same species which occupies the same habitat.
 Demography is the study of populations

Populations can be characterized by their size and density

 Density is size divided by area occupied
 Consider how size and density impact survival; populations that are too dense
may not have enough resources and so they may decline. Populations that are
too sparse may have a hard time finding mates and decline.

Population size can tell us a lot

 Small populations tend to have less variation and therefore are less able to
survive changes to the environment
 Therefore, larger populations tend to have more variation and are therefore
more able to survive changes to the environment

Population Distribution Patterns

 Uniform members of a species are equally spaced out maximizes resource
efficiency
 Random no pattern to spacing. random spacing means thorough distribution
throughout the environment which increases the variety of conditions the
species will encounter and thus increases long term survival of the species
 Clumped members of a species group together leaving vacant spaces
between clumps allows for group protection or occurs when a species
depends upon a scarce resource

Survivorship Curves-Life Histories

 Survivorship Curves show the ratio of total members born to members that
reach a certain age. These ratios describes life history strategies.
 Type I includes humans, elephants and other large mammals. This type shows
high survivorship in early/middle stages of life, with most deaths occurring at
older ages. They produce few offspring and provide high amounts of parental
care.
 Type II includes some birds and lizards. Death is equally likely at any stage of
life. They also have few offspring with lots of care.
 Type III includes marine invertebrates and trees. Death is very likely at early
stages but survivors can have long lives. Produce many offspring with low
care.
Determining Population Growth
 Population size is determined by the birth rate, death rate, immigration, and
emigration.
 Population growth rate = (births + immigration deaths + emigration)/time.
 Carrying capacity is represented by “K”. This line/value represents the
maximum population that an environment can sustain.
 Change in number/change in time = (births deaths)/time
 rmax = intrinsic growth rate
 Growth rate lines can be described as exponential or logistic. Exponential
growth tends to increase at an accelerating rate with no upper limit. Logistic
models begin exponentially but decelerate as they approach the upper limit
(carrying capacity, or K).
o Exponential Growth Model
 dN/dT = rmax N… change in population/change in time =
intrinsic growth rate * population
o Logistic Growth Model
 dN/dT = rmax (KN)/K… change in population/change in time =
intrinsic growth rate * (carrying capacity population)/carrying
capacity ○ This model is written such that as a population
reaches carrying capacity, its growth rate decreases so that it
never reaches carrying capacity

10.3 Regulating Population Growth

 You should be able to refine scientific models and questions about the effect
of complex biotic and abiotic interactions on all biological systems, from cells
and organisms to populations, communities and ecosystems.
 You should be able to justify the selection of the kind of data needed to
answer scientific questions about the interaction of populations within
communities.
 You should be able to predict the effects of a change in the community's
populations on the community.
 You should be able to use theories and models to make scientific claims
and/or predictions about the effects of variation within populations on
survival and fitness.

Density Dependent Regulation

 This can be described as negative feedback that occurs as a population gets
more dense (larger).
 Includes competition for resources, territoriality, disease , predation, wastes,
etc. Think of the logic of each of these factors; as a population gets more
dense, resources become strained and the area can no longer support the
population’s growth.
Density Independent Regulation
 This can be described as regulation that affects a population regardless of the
density.
 An example would be a drought which kills a similar proportions of grass
regardless of how dense or sparse the grass is.

Population Cycles
 Some populations undergo regular ups and downs in population size. This can
be caused by patterns in their conditions that also follow a cycle.
o One example is the snowshoe hare and the lynx. Scientists found that
the population of the hare is regulated by predation and sunspot
activity (which controls the quality of the grass they eat) and as a result
the population size of the hare and the lynx follow a ten year pattern
that matches the cycle of sunspot activity.
 Metapopulation; a larger population formed from linked local populations