Population Curves and Diversity
3 Phases of Population ► Growth ► Stability ► Decline
Growth of Population ► Population growth occurs when available resources exceed the number of individuals able to exploit them As a result, reproduction is rapid and death rates are low causing a net increase in the population size
Population Stability ► Population stability is often preceded by a crash Caused by the growing populations to outstrip its available resources Stability is usually the longest phase of a population’s life cycle
Population Decline ► Caused by a decrease number of individuals in a population ► May eventually lead to population extinction
Exponential Growth ► Nearly all populations will tend to grow exponentially as long as resources are avaiable ► Exponential rate happens due to reproduction being a multiplicative process
2 Factors Affecting Population Growth ► Natality: birth rate ► Mortality: death rate ► Population growth rate can be determined by subtracting death rate from birth rate
2 Modes of Population Growth ► Exponential mode: J curve, happens when there is no limit to population size ► Logistic mode: “S” curve, depicts the effect of a limiting factor Reference: