Population Ecology Worksheet

1. Characteristics of Populations
A. Each __________—a group of individuals of the same species
living in the same area (habitat)—has certain characteristics.
1. The ________ is the number of individuals making up its gene
pool.
2. ___________ defines the relative proportions of individuals of
each age—especially with respect to reproductive years.
3. _________ is the number of individuals per unit of area or
volume—the habitat.
4. ___________________ refers to the general pattern in which the
population members are dispersed through its habitat.
B. Populations can be dispersed in three patterns.
1. Members of a population living in ________ is very common for
these reasons.
a. Suitable physical, chemical, and biological conditions are
patchy, not uniform.
b. Many animals form social groups.
c. Many offspring are not highly mobile and are forced to
live “where they landed.”
2. Uniform_______________ is rare in nature; when it does occur,
it is usually the result of fierce competition for limited resources.
3. _______________ dispersion occurs in nature if environmental
conditions are rather uniform in the habitat and members are
neither attracting nor repelling each other.

2. Elusive Heads to Count

A. To determine the number of animals in a particular area, you
could try a full count to measure _____________; this may be
difficult especially with elusive animals such as deer.
B. You could divide up the area into smaller __________; count the
number of deer in one quadrat and ________ the number for the
whole area.
 C. Because many animals _________a lot, it may be better to use the
capture–recapture method.

3. Population Size and Exponential Growth

A. Gains and Losses in Population Size
1. ___________ is dependent on births, immigration, deaths, and
emigration.
2. Population size may also change on a predictable basis as a
result of daily or __________ called migrations.
B. From Zero to Exponential Growth
1. ____________ designates a near balance of births and deaths.
2. Rate of increase: r = net reproduction per individual per unit
time.
3. The growth rate formula is: G = ________.
a. A graphic plot of exponential growth results in a
___________ curve that becomes steeper with advancing time.
b. As long as r is ________, the population will continue to
increase at ever-increasing rates—easily measured by noting
the “doubling time.”
C. What Is Biotic Potential?
1. The ____________ of a population is its maximum rate of
increase under ideal—nonlimiting—conditions.
2. The biotic potential varies from species to species because of
three parameters:
a.

b.

c.
4. Limits on the Growth of Populations
A. What Are the Limiting Factors?
1. The actual rate of increase of a population is influenced by
______________________.
 2. Limiting factors (nutrient supply, predation, competition for
space, pollution, and metabolic wastes) ______________ to
population growth.

B. Carrying Capacity and Logistic Growth

1. The ________________ of resources defines the carrying capacity
for a particular population in a given environment.
a. The carrying capacity can vary over time and is expressed
graphically in the S-shaped curve pattern called _____________.
b. The formula for logistic growth is: G = ______________

2. Logistic growth deals with _____________ controls.

a. The main density-dependent factors are competition for
resources, predation, parasitism, and disease.
b. These factors exert their effects in ________________ to
the number of individuals present.
C. Density-Independent Factors
1 Some events, such as weather, tend to increase the death rate
without respect to the number of ______________.
2. Lightning, floods, snowstorms, and the like affect large
populations as well as ________ groups.

5. Life History Patterns

A. Each species has a life history pattern that influences survival,
fertility, and the age of first reproduction.
B. Life Tables
1. Life tables follow the fate of a group of newborn individuals
(_______) through their lives to calculate the survivorship
schedule.
2. The number of _________ born to individuals in each age
interval is also recorded.
C. Patterns of Survival and Reproduction
 1. Survivorship curves are plots of the
__________________________ of death for a given population in a
given environment.
2. Most animals are characterized by one of these types of curves.
a. A ________ curve is typical of large mammals where few
offspring are produced and cared for so that infant mortality is
low; death usually comes after an extended life.
b. A Type II curve is typical of many animals where the
chances of survival or death are about the _________ at any age.
c. A Type III curve indicates low survivorship, or
conversely, ____________ in early life.

6. Natural Selection and Life Histories

A. David Reznick and John Endler studied the differences in size
and survival of guppies in Trinidad.
1. They were interested in the effects of predation on guppy
populations in two streams with different predators.
2. Their hypothesis was that predation by killifish and pike-
cichlids is a selective agent that acted to shape guppy life history
patterns.
B. They discovered that differences in growth rate and reproductive
maturity have a genetic basis because the effects were the same in
lab-reared guppies and the natural populations.
C. The experimenters performed other field experiments that
stretched over eleven years.
1. Guppies that had been exposed to one predator, and then
moved to another, displayed changes.
2. Reznick and Endler showed that life history traits can be
inherited, but these traits can also evolve.

7. Human Population Growth

A. Notice these startling statistics:
1. The world population reached _________ in 1999.
2. The annual rate of increase averaged _____ percent.
 B. How did the human population grow to such large numbers?
1. Humans expanded into new_________ and climatic zones.
2. ___________ increased the carrying capacity of the land to
support humans and their animals.
3. Medical practice and improved sanitation conditions removed
many _____________ factors.
4. New forms of _________ from fossil fuels ushered in the
industrial revolution.
C. Consider this: It took 2.5 million years for the world’s human
population to reach 1 billion; it took only_________ years to reach
the sixth billion.

8. Fertility Rates and Age Structure

A. At the present rate of increase, the world human population may
reach __________ by 2050.
1. The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children
born to _______ during their reproductive years, and is currently
______ children per female.
2. Even if the replacement level of fertility is achieved (about two
children per woman), the human population will continue to grow
for another _______ years.
B. Any population with a broadly based age structure (many
women in reproductive years) will continue _________
population growth.
1. Effective family ________ programs can achieve a faster decline
in birth rate than economic development alone.
2. ________ has the most far-reaching family planning program.
a. Couples are limited to having one, maybe two, children.
b. There are many incentives, and the program has lowered
the TFR from 5.7 to 1.8.

9. Population Growth and Economic Effects

A. Demographic Transitions
 1. In the _____________ model, changes in population growth are
linked to four stages of economic development.
a. In the _______stage, living conditions are harsh; birth and
death rates are high; and there is little increase in population
size.
b. In the __________ stage, living conditions improve; death
rate drops; and birth rate remains high.
c. In the __________stage, growth slows.
d. In the _________ stage, zero population growth is reached;
birth rate falls below death rate.
2. Some _______ countries are in the industrial stage (for example,
the United States, Canada, and Japan); some countries (for
example, Mexico) are in the ________transitional stage.
B. A Question of Immigration Policies
1. The greatest increase in _________came in 1986 when
legislation gave legal status to undocumented immigrants who
proved they had lived in the country for years.
2. Economic __________ in the past twenty years have fanned
resentment against newcomers and increased calls for limits on
new immigrants.
C. A Question of Resource Consumption
1. The United States uses about a________ of the world’s goods,
services, and natural resources but constitutes only _____percent
of the world’s population.
2. Other countries such as ______and_________ are asking for a
greater share of the economic pie.
D. Impacts of No Growth
1. It takes a large __________of younger individuals to support
individuals in the higher age brackets.
2. Can humans defy the laws of nature that dictate the number of
individuals, which can be supported per unit of space, or are we
just postponing the _________?