14.1 Charecteristics of Populations

Definitions:

• Habitat - the place where an organism or species normally lives.
• Species - organisms that resemble one another in appearance, behaviour, chemistry and genetic makeup, and that interbreed or have the ability to interbreed, with one another under normal conditions to produce fertile offspring.
• Population Size - the numbers of individuals of a specific species occupuying a given area or volume at a specific time.
• Population Density - The number of individuals of the same species that occur per unit area or volume. The formula for this is Density (D) = total numbers (N) / Space (S)
• Population Dispersion - The general pattern in which individuals are distributed through a specified area.
• Clumped Dispersion - The pattern in which individuals in a population are more concentrated in certain parts of a habitat.
• Uniform Dispersion - The patter in which individuals in a population are equally spaced throughout a habitat.
• Random Dispersion - The pattern in which individuals are spread throughout a habitat in an unpredictable and patternless manner.

questions


1. D = N/S
D = 34/200
D = 0.17 turtles per ha

2.Areas in the park that are not used by the painted turtles may have conditions that make them inhabitable for the species.

3.assuming they cant use 40% of available space in the park, the ecological density would be

=34turtles / (200-(40% of 200))
=34/(200-80)
=34/120
=0.333 turtles/usable hectare in the park




Page 653

Definitions:

• Quadrat - A sampling frame used for estimation population size; these can be real or virtual
• Mark - recapture method - sampling technique used for estimating population size and density by comparing the proportion of marked and unmarked animals captured in a given area; some times called capture-recapture

See sample problems on pages 654 - 656



Page 654
4.

total number of slugs / number of quadrants = population density
4+8+9+5+1 / 5 quadrants (each 1.0m^2) = population density
27/5 =population density
so the population density of slugs is 5.4slugs/m^2


Page 657
5.a)

Population = ((total marked)(population recaptured)) / recaptured marked salmon
population = (430)(154) / 15
population = 4414.666667

therefore the estimated population is 4415 in this river

b) correct amount of time, location where testing occurs, etc...