POPULATION DYNAMICS

What do you mean by Population Dynamics?

Population dynamics is the branch of life sciences that studies short and long-term
changes in the size and age composition of popuations, and the biological and
environmental processes influencing those changes. Population dynamics deals with the
way populations are affected by birth and death rates, and by immigration and and studies
topics such as aging population or population decline.
Thecapacityforgrowthisameasureofthesuccessofapopulationofaspecies.Because
therearesomanyinteractionsbetweenindividualsandtheenvironment,measuringhow
well populations grow is often complex. Population biologists frequently use
mathematical growth models to help them study real populations.
Populationmodelsmightseemlikealltheoryandmath,buttheyhelpusunderstandreal
ecological systems in simpler terms. They are used for testing theories, making
predictions,andformakingdecisionsaboutmanagingorconservingpopulationsofmany
species.
WhatisPopulationEcology?
Population ecology is the study of births, deaths, and the dynamics forces which regulate
the number of individuals in a population.
Population distribution

spaced -- may indicate competing individuals

clumped -- may indicate social patterns or resource distribution

Discuss the population distribution pattern in the context of developing and

developed countries.
The population distribution pattern for developing and developed countries is shown
below. For the developing countries the birthrate is very high as a result the number of
younger people are much higher as compared to the developed countries. In developed
countries the birth rate is less and people are occupied with the jobs and lives, getting
reluctant to spend time on raising babies and taking responsibilities.
On the other hand the number of aging people in developed countries are increasing due
food diet, greater medical facilities. Where as in developing countries the number of
aging people is very few as people have poor food diet and less medical facilities.
Particularly in the developed countries the increase in the proportion of "older people",
i.e. persons aged 60 and over, in the population - has become a prominent topic for
studies on the implications of demographic change. Ageing has emerged as a global
phenomenon in the wake of the now virtually universal decline in fertility and, to a lesser
extent, of increases in life expectancy.

This increase in the number of old people is known as population aging. The theme is of
immediate concern in developed countries, where ageing is already well advanced and
will continue, with serious consequences on the economy of pension schemes. It is also
gaining importance in developing regions, where a number of countries have started
worrying about the medium- or long-term implications of the ongoing or incipient
fertility decline for their age structures.
What are the types of population growth model?
geometric -- used when there is a discrete breeding season
exponential -- used when populations are growing continuously

Explain exponential growth model with mathematical and graphical representation.

In population ecology, the population growth rate measures the change in the number of
individuals in a population over a specified length of time. Patterns of population growth
can be shaped by a variety of factors, and so population biologists have developed
different mathematical expressions, or models, to describe population growth rate. One of
the most basic expressions of population growth rate is the exponential model.
Mathematically, the exponential model is:
dN/dt = rN
Exponential Population Growth; The "j" curve.
In the exponential model, change in population size
(dN) over a specified, and usually short, interval of
time (dt) is proportional to the product of the per
capita growth rate r (where r is the number of
individuals added to or subtracted from the population
per individual already present in the population per
time) and the population size N (where N is the
number of individuals present in the population). A
population that conforms to this model of population
growth will grow exponentially when r > 0, will
decline exponentially when r < 0, and will remain
constant in size when r = 0, which will occur only
when births and deaths are exactly balanced.
Exponential growth is best visualized in the graph that
plots how the population size changes over time. This
graph is often referred to as the "j" curve.
Why is the exponential population growth model unrealistic?
In the exponential model, the per capita growth rate is independent of population size
(density independent). However, this is unlikely because both per capita birth rate (b) and
per capita death rate (d) are expected to change with population size (they are density
dependent). For example, competition for resources should be greater as population size
increases, leaving fewer resources for each reproducing individual. As a consequence, per
capita birth rate should decrease as population size increases (negative density
dependent). Similarly, increased competition for resources should result in higher per
capita death rates as population size increase because individuals are more likely to die of
starvation. In addition, per capita death rates should increase with population size because
(1) diseases are transmitted more easily in dense populations and (2) predators may be
attracted to regions of high prey density. Thus, per capita death rates should be positively

density dependent. Thus, as populations increase in size, per capita birth rates are
expected to decline and per capita death rates are expected to increase.
Because per capita growth rate is a function of the per capita birth and death rates (r = b d), exponential growth is not a realistic model for populations in which birth and death
rates vary as a function of population size, as will generally be the case when resources
are not unlimited. Most populations seem to exhibit density-dependent birth and death
rates, and thus the exponential model of population growth is not broadly useful in
describing population growth. However, the exponential model is useful in certain cases,
for example in describing and predicting population growth when a species is introduced
to a new environment with abundant resources without competitors or predators.
What do you mean by Environment? What are the components of the
Environment?

COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT

Introduction
Classification of Environment
Components of Environment
Environment, Ecology and Ecosystem

INTRODUCTION
Before you start reading this topic, just look around and note the various things
that surround you like clouds, paper, chair, friends, etc. It is impossible to be alone in this
earth, isnt it? After all, no man is an island!
Every organism in this earth is surrounded by a lot of things; say other organisms,
plants, water, air, light, land etc. These surroundings of the organism, all the living and
non-living things constitute its environment.
There are a lot of definitions for the word environment in the literal and scientific
contexts, but the most acceptable definitions can be given as below. The first one is
1) Environment can be defined as the natural surroundings of that organism
which directly or indirectly influences the growth and development of the
organism.

2) Environment is defined as the surroundings in which an organization operates

including air, water, land and natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their
inter relations ISO Definition
3) Environment is the sum total of all living and non living factors that compose the
surroundings of man
The word environment is derived from the French word environ. The meaning
of the French word is somewhat related to encompass encircle etc. It is believed to
have been introduced into the subject by biologist Jacob Van Erkul in the early 1900s.
With environment being such a generalized term, its classification and an
understanding of its composition becomes a necessity.

CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENT
The classification of the environment can be best described from the following figure

Atmosphere

PHYSICAL
Hydrosphere
Off these, we are more concerned withENVIRONMENT
the physical environment from our perspective as
the cultural environment and biological environment are left to Lithosphere
specialists like
economists and biologists. Read further for a brief intro of the cultural and biological
environments.
Floral
The Cultural Environment gives an idea of learned behavioral traits those
are clear and
shared by members of society. For example,
if a person born in Bangladesh and living in
BIOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENT
Faunal
Bangladesh and a person born in Bangladesh
and living in USA would have
two different
ENVIRONMENT
cultural environments, which they have to adapt too. The students may have already
Microbia
come across the problems of cross cultural communication, which is indeed
related to the
l
cultural environment of an organism.
Society

The most important thing about the cultural environment is that it cannot be
CULTURAL
physically represented, but it is there anyway.
The study of this aspect of environment
is taken care by economists, sociologists,ENVIRONMENT
politicians and other such people.Economy
Politics

The biological environment as the name indicates refers to the various flora (plants),
fauna (animals) and microbes (micro organisms) that are found in our surroundings. We
are already familiar with this environment through our study of biological sciences.
As we discussed in the above classification, environment has three distinct
dimensions namely: physical environment, biological environment and cultural
environment. All the same, the study of the cultural environment has been allocated to
sociologists, economists and managers. The biologists and doctors are in charge of
studying our biological environment. This leaves the physical environment, which is
taken care of by the environmentalists.
COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT
Though air, water and land are the components of environment, the British and
American scientists put in two different manners.
1. Components of Environment as per British literature
Here the components are classified in terms of biotic and abiotic based upon life. The
biotic components are further listed as producers, consumers and decomposers and
the abiotic components are classified as climatic(water, air) and edaphic(land). It is
from this component system that the study of structure of ecosystem was evolved.

COMPONENTS

BIOTIC (LIVING) COMPONENTS

ABIOTIC(PHYSICAL) COMPONENTS

CLIMATIC
PRODUCERS

CONSUMERS

DECOMPOSERS

2. Components of Environment as per American literature

As per American literature, the components of environment are listed as

EDAPHIC

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Hydrosphere(Water)
Atmosphere(Air)
Lithosphere(Land)
Biosphere(Flora/Fauna/Microbes)
Anthrosphere (man made things)

ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM

At this stage, it is very important to clarify ourselves about these terms environment,
ecology and ecosystem lest they may lead to confusion.
Environment, Ecology and Ecosystem are three different terms. But they are inter
related.
The natural surroundings of an organism, both living and physical is its environment.
Lets say you are an organism. Light, Water, Air, Land etc are your physical
surroundings. Humans, Rats, Lizards, Dogs etc are your living surroundings. They are
your environment. Scientists believe that natural environment is a better word to use
given the common use of the word environment.
Ecology is a branch of study of the interrelationships with the organism and its
environment. It is a basic fact that the Earth includes a tremendous variety of living
things which depend in some way on other living and nonliving things in its
Environment. Definitely, as an organism, camel has a relationship with its
environment. Humans have a working relationship with cows, chickens, bees etc.
This study of how the existence and activity of organism influences its environment
and the vice versa is ecology. Ecology comes from the Greek Words OIKOS (house
or place where one lives) and LOGOS (study of) and was formed by Ernst Haeckl in
1869. Thus Ecology means house study or Study of the House (the scientist
referred the earth as house in all his works) in which we Live. Ecology involves
collecting information about organisms and their environment, looking for patterns,
and seeking to explain these patterns. It can be confidently established that
Environmental Science is more or less Ecology.
The ecology that takes place in a defined area is called ecosystem. Say your relation with
water, light, humans, dogs etc in a city, or in a forest, sea etc. Ecosystem is a functional

unit of dynamic system of organisms interacting with each other (biotic) and the
inanimate environment (abiotic).
What do you mean carrying capacity? Living within the limits of an ecosystem
depends on what factors?
The maximum number of animals that can be supported in an area over an extended
period of time; or without damaging the resources. Thecarryingcapacityofabiological
speciesinanenvironmentisthepopulationsizeofthespeciesthattheenvironmentcan
sustainindefinitely,giventhefood,habitat,waterandothernecessitiesavailableinthe
environment.Forthehumanpopulation,morecomplexvariablessuchassanitationand
medicalcarearesometimesconsideredaspartofthenecessaryestablishment.
Living within the limits of an ecosystem depends on three factors:
the amount of resources available in the ecosystem;
the size of the population or community; and
the amount of resources each individual within the community is consuming.
Explanation of Carrying Capacity:
As population density increases, birth rate often decreases and death rate typically
increases. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate is the "natural
increase". The carrying capacity could support a positive natural increase, or could
require a negative natural increase. Thus, the carrying capacity is the number of
individualsanenvironmentcansupportwithoutsignificantnegativeimpactstothegiven
organismanditsenvironment.Belowcarryingcapacity,populationstypicallyincrease,
whileabove,theytypicallydecrease.Afactorthatkeepspopulationsizeatequilibriumis
knownasaregulatingfactor.Populationsizedecreasesabovecarryingcapacityduetoa
rangeoffactorsdependingonthespeciesconcerned,butcanincludeinsufficientspace,
foodsupply,orsunlight.Thecarryingcapacityofanenvironmentmayvaryfordifferent
speciesandmaychangeovertimeduetoavarietyoffactors,including:foodavailability,
watersupply,environmentalconditionsandlivingspace.