1. Population Ecology Introduction (Chap. 9)
Introduction (Chap. 9)
A. Examples: The scope of population ecology
B. Definitions and properties
Terms: population, distribution, abundance, density, age structure, growth rate, demographics
II. Growth rates: intrinsic rates of increase (Ch. 11)
A. Geometric growth
B. Exponential growth
C. Logistic growth

2. Definitions
Population: a group of individuals of the same species occupying a particular space at the same time.

3. This is our world
Given that human population is currently at over 6 billion people and isn’t expected to level out to between 9 and 12 billion people sometime later this century, how much of that NPP can we appropriate before we irrevocably
U.S. 306,560,607 World 6,783,691,069 14:44 GMT (EST+5) Jun 01, 2009

4. Global changes Loss of biodiversity Overharvest Pollution
Overharvest
Pollution
Species invasions
Climatic change
Molles 2007
We already know that a population of 6.75 billion people is causing all these changes. What will the planet be like with 9 billion people? 12 billion? 15 billion?
Land use change
- type
- intensity
Loss of biodiversity

5. Questions Will exponential growth continue indefinitely?
How will population distribution change with time?
How many people can the Earth hold?
- What’s the carrying capacity for Earth?
- At what standard of living?

6. Properties of a population:
Distribution - over what area is the population found. This includes:
Abundance – how many total individuals
Density - how many individuals in the same area at the same time

7. Population Growth
Growth rate: how many individuals are gained (birth and immigration) minus how many are lost (death and emigration).
- what is happening to the net population size.
Age structure: how many individuals in different age categories, usually related to reproduction
Taylor and Southard

8. Other terms
Demographics covers the basic statistical information about a population: age structure, density, births, deaths, growth, and reproduction.

9. ECOLOGY OF POPULATIONS
Properties of populations
Patterns of distribution and density
Intraspecific competition
Population dynamics
Growth and regulation
Altering population growth
Human impact

10. Growth Curves

11. Human Population

12. Survival Curves
Survivorship is the percentage of remaining survivors of a population over time; usually shown graphically.     Type I survivorship curve: most individuals live out their life span and die of old age (e.g., humans).     Type II survivorship curve: individuals die at a constant rate (e.g., birds, rodents, and perennial plants).      Type III survivorship curve: most individuals die early in life (e.g., fishes, invertebrates, and plants).