What is population ecology?

Population Ecology the study of how plant and animal populations within a community affect each other What affect population ecology? density age distribution growth competition predation

How does population density affect population ecology? the measure of how crowded organisms are in their environment organisms compete for resources, keeping a balance is important If the population is too high, some organisms will __________. How does population density affect population ecology? die

How does age affect population ecology? a population can be classified by its age 3 groups of age classes are preproductive – young and have not reproduced reproductive – in the process of reproducing postproductive – past the stage of reproducing To be productive, a community should contain each of these three age groups. How does age affect population ecology?

affect population ecology? Distribution a description of how organisms are distributed within their community How does distribution affect population ecology?

How does population growth affect population ecology? increase in the number of organisms who inhabit an area population growth is determined by immigration – the act of an organism moving into a habitat emigration – the act of an organism moving out of a habitat natality – the production of new individuals in a habitat (birth rate) mortality – the death rate in a population How does population growth affect population ecology?

Increasing, Decreasing, or Stays the Same… # of immigrants > # of emigrants # of immigrants = # of mortalities # of natalities < # of mortalities # of immigrants + # of emigrants = # of natalities + # of mortalities

affect population ecology? Competition the use of the same resources by different organisms to live What are the 3 major limiting resources for animals? food, shelter, and water What are the 3 major limiting resources for plants? nutrients, sunlight, and water How does competition affect population ecology?

affect population ecology? Predation one living organism serving as food for another organism How does predation affect population ecology?

Carrying Capacity the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment

Population Statistics Predator-Prey Graph Population Statistics