AP Bio Insta-Review Topic 8.3: Population Ecology

Front

What is population ecology?

Back

Population ecology is the study of how populations of organisms interact with their environment and how factors such as resource availability, competition, and predation affect population dynamics.

Front

What does 'r' represent in population ecology?

Back

'r' represents the intrinsic rate of increase of a population, which is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.

Front

What is carrying capacity (K)?

Back

Carrying capacity (K) is the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can support sustainably.

Front

How do you calculate the change in population size (dN/dt)?

Back

dN/dt = rN(1 - N/K), where N is the current population size, r is the intrinsic growth rate, and K is the carrying capacity.

Front

What is exponential growth?

Back

Exponential growth occurs when a population grows at a constant rate without any limitations on resources, leading to a rapid increase in size.

Front

What is logistic growth?

Back

Logistic growth is a model of population growth that accounts for resource limitations, resulting in a population that grows rapidly at first and then levels off as it approaches the carrying capacity.

Front

What does 'b' stand for in population growth equations?

Back

'b' stands for the birth rate per capita, which is the number of births per individual in a population.

Front

What is the formula for calculating the rate of increase?

Back

The rate of increase is calculated as: Rate of Increase = Birth Rate - Death Rate.

Front

If r = 0.5, N = 200, and K = 400, how many individuals remain after 1 generation?

Back

250.

Front

If r = 0.5 and N = 1000, what is dN/dt?

Back

500.