POPULATION AND

COMMUNITY
DYNAMICS
MRS. FATIMA KHALID
DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 CONTENTS

[Link] ecology: basic characters,

growth and growth curves
[Link] dynamics and regulation
[Link] ecology
[Link] and inter population interactions
POPULATION ECOLOGY,
• Population ecology, study of the processes that affect the distribution and abundance of
animal and plant populations.

 Closed Population
•A closed population is not able to exchange with other people after a while. The population can grow
through the birth of new people. This circumstance is usually seen on islands as a population might be
laid out during a storm or any other influence but no additional members will be added over time.
When a brief period of time is over, a population is bound to be closed. A storm event where more
turtles are added during a single year than 100 years is less likely to happen on an island. Animals will
not be able to cross the river during a normal year if the river stays at its full level. The population can
grow through birth and decline through death, making it easier to project growth rates. The growth
rate is not determined by the number of organisms or the rate of reproduction.
OPEN POPULATION

 Open Population
•An open population can acquire and lose different populations over time. The population isn’t
geographically isolated. The longer the period of time, the more probable it is that the population will
open. The typical changes in an environmental system are the reason for this.

• After some time, we expect that rivers will experience times of dry weather, mountain passes will
open and close, and bridges will be destroyed. The capacity of new individuals to join an existing
population will be influenced by these things
CHARACTERISTICS OF POPULATION ECOLOGY

•Characteristics of Population Ecology

•Ecologists use diverse terms while understanding and examining populations of organisms. A population
is all of one sort of species living in a particular location. Population size describes the total number of
individuals in a habitat. Population density refers to how many individuals live in a specific area.
•Population size is represented by the letter N, which refers to the total number of individual organisms in
a population. The bigger a population is, the greater its generic variation and thus its potential for long-term
survival. Increased population size can, however, lead to further issues, such as overuse of resources
leading to a population crash.
•Population Density refers to the number of individual organisms in a particular area. A low-density
region would have more organisms spread out. High-density regions would have more individuals residing
closer together, leading to greater resource competition.
POPULATION DISPERSION:
•Population Dispersion: Hauls helpful information regarding how species interact with each other.
Researchers can discover more about populations by studying how they are distributed or dispersed.
•Population distribution describes how individual organisms of a species are spread out, whether they live
close or far apart or massed into groups.
 Uniform dispersion means the organisms that live in a distinct territory. One example would be penguins.
Penguins live in parts; within those territories, the birds space themselves reasonably uniformly.
 Random dispersion means the spread of individual organisms, such as wind-dispersed seeds, which fall
randomly after transiting.
 Clustered or clumped dispersion means a drop of seeds straight to the ground, instead of being carried, to
groups of animals living together, such as herds or schools. Schools of the fish show this manner of
dispersion.
GROWTH AND GROWTH CURVES

•Population Growth
 In simple terms, population growth refers to the number of
individuals in the group as the population keeps increasing.
 Mathematical models that study the population growth rate (r)
indicate how fast a population increases or decreases. The
population growth curve is determined for any given
population based on the rate.
FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE GROWTH RATE

•The population growth depends on factors such as birth rates,

death rates, and migration. A simple mathematical relation can
determine the growth rate:
•Growth Rate (r) = Birth rate – Death rate
•As long as the birth rate is higher than the death rate, the
population growth is positive (increasing). When the death rate is
higher than birth rates, the population growth begins to decline.
OTHER FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE GROWTH RATE INCLUDE:

 How periodically the organism reproduces

 Age of the organism at first reproduction
 Number of offspring
 The type of parental care
 How long the organism is capable of reproducing
 The survival rates of the offspring
EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

•What are the different population growth curves?

•There are two types of growth curves: the j shaped growth curve and the s-shaped growth curve. Both
the types of growth curves fit population growth models that have different environmental pressures.
•Exponential growth
•One of the easily observable examples of exponential growth occurs in bacteria that divide rapidly
within an hour. If there are 1000 bacteria on a plate, in the next hour, there will be 2000. In the 3rd
hour, there will be 4000 bacteria, and by the 4th hour, there will be 8000. The characteristics of
exponential growth are:
 They occur in ideal environments where the resources are relatively unlimited.
 There is no competition or limit to the exponential growth
 The population starts small and grows rapidly as time progresses, giving a J-type exponential
growth curve.
LOGISTIC GROWTH

•Logistic growth is seen in most populations living in realistic conditions with limited space and
resources. Since neither space nor resources are infinite, the growth rate starts to taper as the
population density reaches a stage where it runs out of food or is poisoned by its waste.
•The characteristics include logistic growth curve:
 Start rapidly as a J curve and flatten as it curves hits the environment’s carrying capacity.
 Carrying capacity refers to the maximum population of a species the environment can support.
 As the population reaches the carrying capacity (denoted by k), the curve begins to take an “S”
shape.
 Logistical growth is seen in all stable populations living in a finite geographic area.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE POPULATION FLUCTUATION

•The fluctuations in the population in a given area are influenced by four major factors, which include
the following:
 Natality – It is the number of births in a given period of time in a population
 Mortality – It is defined as the number of deaths that takes place in a population at a given period
of time.
 Immigration – It is defined as the number of individuals who come from another population and
add to the population under consideration during a period of time.
 Emigration – It is defined as the number of individuals from a population who leave the habitat
and go to a different habitat at a given period of time.
•Thus, it is clearly visible, that Natality (N) and Immigration (I) add to a population, thus increasing
the population whereas, Mortality (M) and Emigration (E) decrease the population. The population
density (Pt) at a given point of time can be given as:
• Pt =P0 + (N + I) – (M + E)
 EXPONENTIAL GROWTH
•We have two growth models which describe the basic growth trend in a population. These are:
• Exponential growth – In an ideal condition where there is an unlimited supply of food and resources, the
population growth will follow an exponential order. Consider a population of size N and birth rate be represented
as b, death rate as d, the rate of change of N can be given by the equation
• dN/dt = (b-d) x N
• If, (b – d) = r,
• dN/dt = rN
•Where r = intrinsic rate of natural increase
•This equation can be represented with a graph which has a J shaped curve. According to calculus
• Nt=N0ert
•Where, Nt = Population density at time t
•N0= Population density at time zero
•r = intrinsic rate of natural increase
•e = base of natural logarithms
LOGISTIC GROWTH
2. Logistic growth – This model defines the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’. Thus, it considers the
fact that resources in nature are exhaustible. The term ‘Carrying capacity’ defines the limit of the
resources beyond which they cannot support any number of organisms. Let this carrying capacity
be represented as K.
•The availability of limited resources cannot show exponential growth. As a result, the graph will have
a lag phase, followed by an exponential phase, then a declining phase and ultimately an asymptote.
This is known as Verhulst-Pearl Logistic Growth and is represented using the equation:
• dN/dt = rN((K-N) /K)
 BIOTIC INTERACTIONS AND ABIOTIC CONDITIONS
LIMIT THE SIZES OF POPULATIONS

• Population dynamics can be regulated in a variety of ways.

These are grouped into density-dependent factors, in which the
density of the population at a given time affects growth rate and
mortality, and density-independent factors, which influence
mortality in a population regardless of population density. Note
that in the former, the effect of the factor on the population
depends on the density of the population at onset. Conservation
biologists want to understand both types because this helps
them manage populations and prevent extinction or
DENSITY-DEPENDENT REGULATION

• Most density-dependent factors are biological in nature (biotic), and include

predation, inter- and intraspecific competition, accumulation of waste, and
diseases such as those caused by parasites. Usually, the denser a population
is, the greater its mortality rate. For example, during intra- and interspecific
competition, the reproductive rates of the individuals will usually be lower,
reducing their population’s rate of growth. In addition, low prey density
increases the mortality of its predator because it has more difficulty locating
its food source.
DENSITY-INDEPENDENT REGULATION AND INTERACTION
WITH DENSITY-DEPENDENT FACTORS

• Many factors, typically physical or chemical in nature (abiotic), influence

the mortality of a population regardless of its density, including weather,
natural disasters, and pollution. An individual deer may be killed in a
forest fire regardless of how many deer happen to be in that area. Its
chances of survival are the same whether the population density is high or
low. The same holds true for cold winter weather.
 COMMUNITY ECOLOGY, ALSO KNOWN AS
SYNECOLOGY
•Community ecology, also known as synecology, examines interactions between species in groups
over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, including distribution, population dynamics,
structure, abundance, and demography. Community ecology primarily focuses on the interactions
among populations as influenced by particular genotypic and phenotypic traits.
•Community ecology studies focus on the interactions and competition of creatures that coexist in a
particular ecological niche, such as a lake, prairie, or wooded area.
•Examples
•Community ecology involves a wide range of ecological interactions that are constantly evolving. A
forest community comprises the plant community, including trees, squirrels, birds, deer, fungi, foxes,
fish, insects, and other local or seasonal species.
 COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS
•Diversity of Species
•Different creatures, including plants, animals, bacteria, and others, constitute each community. They are taxonomically distinct
from one another. The species diversity could be local or regional.
•Growth Form and Structure
•Primary growth forms, including trees, shrubs, and herbs, can be used to analyse a community. Different plant species, such as
broadleaf trees, evergreen trees, etc., may be found in each growth form found in trees. These many growth forms influence the
structure of a community.
•Dominance
•Not all species in a community are equally significant. A selected few species determine a community’s characteristics. These few
species dominate the community and exercise control over it.
•Self-reliance
•Each community has a variety of heterotrophic and autotrophic creatures. Autotrophic plants can survive bythemselves.
•Relative Abundance
•Relative abundance is the concept that different populations in a community coexist in relative proportions.
•Trophic Structure

• Each community has its own trophic structure that controls how food and energy move from plants to herbivores to carnivores
 COMMUNITY CHARACTERS

•Periodicity
•This includes studying different life processes, including respiration, growth, and reproduction, in the
dominant species of a community. Periodicity is the regular occurrence of these essential biological
processes for a year and how they present themselves in the natural world.
•Edge-effect and Eco-tone
•Eco-tone refers to a region of vegetation that extends between or separates two distinct types of
ecosystems. It is easy to identify these as marginal zones.
•Eco-tones frequently have greater species diversity than any of the nearby communities. Edge-effect
is a term used to describe plants’ increased variety and density along a common intersection.
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

•Several species and their relative abundances included in the community structure describe the
composition of a community. The types and quantities of organisms that inhabit distinct ecological
communities can vary significantly.
•Communities with the most prominent species are typically located close to the equator, whereas
communities with the fewest species are commonly found close to the poles.
•The Trophic Pyramid Structure
•The trophic pyramid is a common structure found in all biological groups. There are four or five tiers
in each pyramid. Food energy is transferred from one food chain level to the next. Every level of the
pyramid loses energy to heat; therefore, it takes a lot of species at a given trophic level to maintain
those in the next level.
KEYSTONE SPECIES

•Food webs include both strong and weak interactions between species, and these differences in interaction
strength influence the organization of communities. Some species, called keystone species, have a
disproportionately large effect on the communities in which they occur. They help to maintain local diversity
within a community either by controlling populations of species that would otherwise dominate the community or
by providing critical resources for a wide range of species.
•The starfish Pisaster ochraceus is a keystone species in the rocky marine intertidal communities off the northwest
coast of North America. This predatory starfish feeds on the mussel Mytilus californianus and is responsible for
maintaining much of the local diversity of species within certain communities. When the starfish have been
removed experimentally, the mussel populations have expanded rapidly and covered the rocky intertidal shores so
exclusively that other species cannot establish themselves. Consequently, the interaction between Pisaster and
Mytilus supports the structure and species diversity of these communities. In other communities in which Pisaster
occurs, however, the starfish has little overall effect on the structure of the community. Therefore, a species can be
a keystone species in some communities but not in others.
GUILDS AND INTERACTION WEBS

•Guilds often are composed of groups of closely related

species that all arose from a common ancestor. They exploit
resources in similar ways as a result of their shared ancestry.
Hence, several species within a single genus may constitute a
guild within a community. A less common but not unknown
occurrence is for unrelated species to make up a guild.
PATTERNS OF COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

•Ecological succession
•The structure of communities is constantly changing. All communities are subject to periodic disturbances, ranging from events
that have only localized effects, such as the loss of a tree that creates a gap in the canopy of a forest, to those that have catastrophic
consequences, which include wildfires that sweep across vast landscapes or storms that pound immense stretches of shoreline.
Each new disturbance within a landscape creates an opportunity for a new species to colonize that region. New species also alter
the character of the community, creating an environment that is suitable to even newer species. By this process, known as
ecological succession, the structure of the community evolves over time.
•Types of succession
•Two different types of succession, primary and secondary, have been distinguished. Primary succession occurs in essentially
lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand
dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier. Secondary succession occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has
been removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment. Events
such as a fire that sweeps across a grassland or a storm that uproots trees within a forest create patches of habitat that are colonized
by early successional species.
THE PROCESS OF SUCCESSION

•Primary and secondary succession both create a continually changing mix of species within
communities as disturbances of different intensities, sizes, and frequencies alter the landscape. The
sequential progression of species during succession, however, is not random. At every stage certain
species have evolved life histories to exploit the particular conditions of the community. This situation
imposes a partially predictable sequence of change in the species composition of communities during
succession. Initially only a small number of species from surrounding habitats are capable of thriving in
a disturbed habitat. As new plant species take hold, they modify the habitat by altering such things as the
amount of shade on the ground or the mineral composition of the soil. These changes allow other species
that are better suited to this modified habitat to succeed the old species. These newer species are
superseded, in turn, by still newer species. A similar succession of animal species occurs, and
interactions between plants, animals, and environment influence the pattern and rate of successional
change.
ECOTONES

•Ecosystems are almost always a patchwork of communities that exist at different successional stages. The sizes,
frequencies, and intensities of disturbances differ among ecosystems, creating differences in what is called the
patch dynamics of communities. Along the edges of each of the patches are areas called ecotones. These junction
zones often contain species of each of the overlapping communities as well as some species that have become
adapted specifically for living in these zones. In many cases, the number of species and the population density
are greater within the ecotone than in the surrounding communities, a phenomenon known as the edge effect.
•In North America the parasitism of bird nests by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) is particularly
frequent in ecotones between mature forests and earlier successional patches. Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests
of other birds and are active mainly in early successional patches. Forest birds whose nests are deep within the
interior of mature forests are less likely to be attacked than those within ecotones. The cutting of mature forests
has increased the extent of ecotones, concomitantly increasing the rate of cowbird parasitism across North
America.
 INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS AND THE ORGANIZATION OF
COMMUNITIES

•The interactive relationships that arise between populations of different

species form the interactive web of communities. These interactions range
from antagonistic to cooperative and have either positive, negative, or neutral
effects on the species involved. In antagonistic relationships the interaction is
detrimental to individuals of either one or both species; in commensal
relationships (commensalism) one species benefits while the other remains
unaffected; and in mutualistic relationships (mutualism) both species benefit.
The organization and stability of biological communities results from the mix
of these different kinds of interaction.
COMMENSALISM

•It is an imbalanced type of interaction wherein one entity benefits while the other is neither harmed
nor benefited. There are four types of commensal associations.
 Inquilinism – An entity occupies living habitat of another species(burrow, nest)
 Chemical commensalism – A bacteria produces a chemical which nurtures another bacteria
 Phoresy – An organism tentatively attaches itself to another entity for transportation requirements.
 Metabiosis – One entity is dependant on the other for survival
PARASITISM

•One entity benefits from other entities and is harmed, but not
necessarily killed. The entity that is harmed is the host and the one
benefited is the parasite. When the host is killed, this type of behaviour
is referred to as parasitoidism. These parasites can be living on the
surface of the host, often addressed as ectoparasites (fleas, leeches)
while endoparasites live inside the host. Endoparasites can be
subdivided into intracellular parasites(live inside cells) and intercellular
parasites(live in spaces between cells).
MUTUALISM

•Both species involved in the interaction are benefited. These interactions take place in three patterns:
 Facultative mutualism – Species survive on their own under favourable conditions
 Obligate mutualism – One species is dependent for survival on the other
 Diffusive mutualism – One entity can live with multiple partners
•These relationships have three purposes:
 Defensive mutualism
 Trophic mutualism
 Dispersive mutualism
AMENSALISM

•In this type of interaction, when one population finds

itself in danger the other population is not majorly
affected. For instance, Tall and wide plants hinder the
growth of comparatively smaller plants. Some plants
even secrete substances that repress the growth of nearby
plants in order to remove competition.
THANKS