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| The study of ow members of a population interact with their environment, focusing on factors that influence population density and growth. |
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| A group of individuals belonging to one species and living in the same geographic area. |
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| The number of individuals of a species per unit area or volume |
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| A mathematical description of idealized, unregulated population growth. |
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| A mathematical description of idealized population growth that is restricted by limiting factors. |
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| In a population, the number of individuals that an environment can sustain |
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| Environmental factors that restrict population growth. |
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| Density-dependent factors |
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| Referring to a decline in birth rates or a rise in death rates in response to an increase in the number of individuals living in a designated area. |
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- caused by seasons
- caused by a disruption in natural checks and balances (predation)
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Describe the exponential and logistic growth patterns and use an example. |
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| The exponential growth model is a mathematical description of idealized, unregulated population growth, while the logistic growth model is a description of idealed population growth that is restricted by limited factors. According the exponential, even elephants, the slowest breeders on the planet, would increase exponentially if enough resources were available. The logistic growth model predicts that if a population is high, there might be less food available per indiv or fewer breeding territories. These limiting factors cause the birth rate to decrease, the death rate to increase, or both. |
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Explain how density-dependent and density-independent factors influence populations; use examples.
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| Density-independent factors, usually these are environmental disasters, such as a forest fire, tidal wave etc that destroy the natural ecosystem that a species survives in affect the same proportion of individuals in a population regardless of population density. In contrast, the effects of density-dependent factors intensify as the population increases in size. These types of factors are a direct result of a species' population size. Usually these factors arise because the populations of the species have to compete for the same resources in a limited geographical niche. |
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