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FW 491 – Online Ecological Module. By: Jessica Caton. Introduction to Population Ecology. What is a population? A group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a specific area (Molles 2010, p. 202) Areas of study involved Population genetics Population dynamics.
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FW 491 – Online Ecological Module By: Jessica Caton
Introduction to Population Ecology • What is a population? • A group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a specific area (Molles 2010, p. 202) • Areas of study involved • Population genetics • Population dynamics
Population Dynamics An area of population ecology concerned with the factors influencing the expansion, decline, or maintenance of populations (Molles 2010, p. 222) • Increases = Birth and Immigration • Decreases = Death and Emigration
Population Dynamics (con’t) Important for ecology to understand/prevent decline and extinction of endangered species
Antarctic Species of Interest:Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) • Physical appearance: • Medium-sized (2 feet tall), black and white • Angular head and tiny bill • White eyering • Longest feather on body is the tail • Smallest penguin in Antarctica • One of the pack ice Antarctic penguins • Most numerous bird in Antarctica
Adélie Penguins and Climate Change • One of the best studied birds • Changing population of species: numbers dropped a third • Sea-ice decline, Adélie penguin populations decline • Evolution of environmental instability?
Life Tables • A table that uses age specific information to estimate important population dynamic traits on a population • Types of life tables: • a table based on individuals born (or beginning life in some other way) at same time (Molles 2010, p. 230) • Static life table: a life table constructed by recording the age at death of a large number of individuals; a snapshot of survival within a population during a short interval of time (Molles 2010, p. 231)
Life Table Summary Time Cohort (horizontal) Composite Time-specific (static, vertical)
Variables in Life Tables • nx • lx • mx • lxmx • R0 • R0 = ∑lxmx
Survival and Mortality in a Population of Adélie Penguins(Ainley & DeMaster 1980)
Survivorship Curve • A graphical summary of patterns of survival in a population (Molles 2010, p. 231) • Three types: • Type 1 = High mortality in older individuals • Type 2 =Constant mortality rate • Type 3 =High mortality in juveniles