Population biology
POPULATION BIOLOGY
Everything is connected on earth- states
the first law of ecology. Meaning that we cant even make one step without
disruption the environment. Even a usual step on the lawn is tens of ruined
microorganisms and scared insects that might be changing their migration paths
and reducing their natural efficiency. During the last century humans have
gotten to be alarmed about the destiny of the planet, however, when we stepped
into this century, we have stepped into the ecological crisis that we ourselves
created.
Environmental contamination, exhaustion of
natural resources and infringements of ecological communications in ecosystems
became global problems. And if the mankind will continue to continue obusing
environment, its death is inevitable.
Now, during an approaching ecological
crisis on the planet, it is necessary for us to cooperate and preserve nature.
By consuming natural resources more
intensively human beings have progressed and improved conditions of development
and the growth of Homo sapiens as a biological species. However, by
"winning" the nature, we have created almost crisis situation in
interaction between the person and the nature, fraught with greater dangers to
the future of our civilization. It could be clearly seen in the problems with
natural resources, power, quality of an environment in its communication with
the further industrial development in the world and growth of the population.
Interdependent changes have led to occurrence of new communications between global
economy and global ecology. In the past we were alarmed about the consequences
of an economic growth for an environment. Now we can not simply ignore the
consequences of " ecological stress " – the deterioration of grounds,
a water polution, a condition of an atmosphere and forests.
Now becomes more clear, that sources and
the reasons of pollution are much more various, complex and interconnected,
and consequences of pollution carry wider, cumulative and chronic character,
than it was considered earlier. Science has already given a definition of
anthropogenous environmental contamination. It is physical, chemical and
biological change of the quality of an environment (atmospheric air, waters,
ground) as a result of the economic or other activity, exceeding the
established specifications of harmful influence on an environment and creating
threat to health of the person and to the conditions of flora and fauna.
The practical output of ecology can be
first seen in making the decisions in the questions of wildlife management; it
should create a scientific basis of operation of natural resources. We can
ascertain, that neglect of the laws underlying natural processes has led to
the serious conflict between the person and the nature.
CONCEPT OF THE POPULATION
Population ecology is defined as group of
organisms of one kind (inside of which individual can exchange the genetic
information), occupying concrete space and functioning as a part biotic
community.
The population is a set of individuals of
one kind living in certain territory, freely crossed among themselves and it is
partially or completely isolated from other populations.
The population has its own characteristics:
number, its density, spatial distribution of individuals. It could be
distinguished by age, sexual and dimensional structure.
Structure.
It is possible to allocate three ecological age groups: prereproductive - group
of individuals, which age has not reached ability of reproduction; reproductive
- the group reproducing new individual; postreproductive - the individuals who
have lost ability to participate in reproduction of new generations. Duration
of these ages in relation to the general life expectancy strongly varies
between different organisms.
Number and density express quantitative characteristics of a population as the whole.
Number of a population is expressed by number of individuals of the given kind
living on the unit of the area borrowed by it. Dynamics of the population
numbers in time is defined by a parity of parameters of birth rate, death
rate, survival rate which in turn are defined by conditions of life.
The density of
a population is the size of population dependant upon the space taken by it:
number of individuals, or biomass, of the population per unit of an area or
volume. The density depends on a trophic level on which there is a population.
The lower a trophic level, the higher the density.
Many species under those conditions are
able to only have males or females, or sometimes unable to reproduce at all. In
plant louses, for example, generations consisting from one females replace each
other in the summer. Under adverse conditions only males are born. In some
molluscs, worms, fishes and crustations changes in sex occur with age.
FEATURES
OF POPULATIONS
So, what are the conditions of birth and
death ratios depend upon? They are dependant upon many factors from the
outside, and also from its own properties. An objective parameter of an ability
of organisms to increase the number is the maximal speed of a population gain.
This parameter is inversely proportional to the life expectancies of organisms.
It is easy to be convinced of it, having addressed to the hyperbolic dependence
between congenital speed of increase in number of a population and the average
time of generation expressed in days (fig. 1). Smaller organisms have higher
values rтах, than larger
ones, that explains shorter time of generation. The reason of this correlation
is clear, because it takes more time for a larger organism to grow. The delay
in reproduction also inevitably leads to the reduction of rтах.
Nevertheless the advantages in having a
larger sizes of a body, should exceed the lacks that have to do with reduction
of rтах, otherwise large organisms
would never appear in evolution. The tendency to increase the body size with
the flow of the geological time, tracked on fossils, has formed the basis for
introduction of the phyletic size concept.
Larger body sizes give abundantly clear
advantages: larger organism should attract less potential predators and, hence,
it has more chances to not become a prey and should differ with the best
survival rate; smaller organisms are in close dependence on the physical
environment, and even little changes can appear to be deadly to them. It is
easier for larger organisms to adapt to the surroundings and therefore they are
better protected. However larger organisms require more food and energy per
one individual in unit of time, than smaller ones. Besides less safer places
exist for them.
There are three periods in the life of an
organism: prereproductive, reproductive and postreproductive. Relative duration
of each varies. The first period is the longest in many animals. A very good
example of this are mayflies, which prereproductive period reaches up to 3
years, and reproductive period takes only from 2-3 hours to a day. American cicada
takes 17 years. But there are species in which individuals start to reproduce
intensively once they are born (the majority of bacteria).
Reproductive opportunities of population
depend on its life expectancy. Life expectancy of individuals of a population
can be estimated, using curve survivals. There are three types of survival
curves(fig. 2).
First type (curve 1) corresponds to the
situation when most individuals have identical life expectancy and die during a
very short interval of time. Curves are characterized by the strong convex
form. Such curve survivals are peculiar to the person (fig. 2, 1), however, the
survival curve for men in comparison with the one for women is less convex, therefore
an insurance policy for men in the majority of the countries in the West is 1,5
times is more expensive, than for women. For the majority of hoofed animals,
survival curve is also convex (fig. 3), however, it is dependant upon the sex
of the species. The second type (fig. 2, 2) is peculiar to the kinds which
mortality rate coefficient remains constants during all their life. Therefore
the survival curve is transformed to a direct line. Such form of the survival
curve is peculiar to a fresh-water hydra. The third type (fig. 2, 3) is
represented by strongly concaved curves, reflecting high death rate of an
individuals at early age. So that is how the life expectancy for some birds,
fishes, and also many invertebrates is characterized.
The knowledge the
survival curve types enables us to construct a pyramid of age (fig. 4). It is
necessary to distinguish three types of such pyramids. The pyramid with the wide
base that corresponds to high percent of growth of the young, is
characteristic for a population with great value of factor of birth rate. The
average type of the pyramid corresponds to the uniform distribution of the
individuals based on age in a population with the balanced factors of birth
rate and death rate – a leveled pyramid. The pyramid with the narrow base,
corresponds to the populations with numerical prevalence of old individuals
over young growth, is characteristic for reduced populations. In such
populations the mortality rate coefficient exceeds factor of birth rate.
The important factor in the change of the
population numbers is the parity of sexes. It is seldom equals to one, as in
most cases one of the sexes prevails over another. In vertebrates, males are
born more often then females. In ducks males often numerically prevail over
females as well.
It is also
important to calculate the energy and resources spent on reproduction in the
population. Not all offsprings are equivalent: those of them which are born at
the end of the vegetative season, usually have less chances to live up to an
adult condition in comparison with the descendants who have been born earlier.
What are the
efforts that parents should spend for each offspring? At a constant
reproductive effort, average fitness of a given offspring is connected with the
return parity of their number. One extreme tactic of reproduction is to use all
the resources to create one large and fit offspring, another is to produce as
much offspring as possible and not spend much resources. However the best tactics
of reproduction is a compromise between reproduction of a large number of
offspring with high fitness.
The quantity and
quality of offspring is illustrated in the graphic model (illustrates fig. 5).
In an improbable case, i. е. in case of
linear dependence of offspring fitness on expenses of their parents, fitness
of each separate offspring decreases with increase of a laying size. Because
the fitness of parents or, that the same, the general fitness of all offspring
is a constant, the optimum size of a laying does not exist, that is believed by
the parent. However, initial parental care has greater contribution to fitness
of offspring, than the next ones (5-shaped character of dependence of fitness
of descendants takes place at increase in the contribution of parents; see fig.
7.6) it is obvious, that there exists some optimal size of a laying. In the
given hypothetical case the parents spending only 20 % of the reproductive
effort to each of their five descendants, will receive greater feedback from
the contribution, than at any other size of a laying. Similar tactics, being
optimum for parents, are not the best for each separately taken descendant
which maximal fitness that is reached in the event that the unique offspring
who has received the full contribution of efforts from the parents. Hence, we
get " the conflict of parents and children ".
Competitive
conditions are a big influence on the S-shaped curve. In strongly rarefied
environment (competitive vacuum) it is necessary to consider maximal
contributions of energy for the production of maximum offspring in the
shortest time possible. Because the competition is insignificant, descendants
can survive, even if they are very small in size and have low fitness. However
in the sated inhabitancy where effects of weight are noticeably shown, and the
competition is high, optimum strategy would be to spend plenty of energy on
competition, increase of own survival rate and on the production of more
competitive descendants. It is best to have large descendants but since they
are so costly, only few can be brought to life.
So, properties
of a population can be estimated on such parameters such as birth rate, death
rate, age structure, parity of sexes, frequency of genes, genetic variety,
speed and the form of a curve of growth, etc.
The density of population
is defined by its internal properties, and is also dependant on the outside
factors of this population.
FACTORS
OF DYNAMICS OF NUMBER OF POPULATIONS
There are three
types of dependence of population from its density (fig. 6). In the first type
(curve 1) growth rate of a population decreases in process of increase in
density. This widespread phenomenon allows us to understand, why populations of
some animals are rather steady. First of all, as the density of a population increases,
decrease in the birth rate is observed. So, in a population of a big titmouse
at a density of less than one pair per 1 hectares on one jack 14 nestlings are
necessary; when the density reaches 18 pairs per 1 hectares, offspring is less
than 8 nestlings. Secondly, as the density of a population increases, the age
maturity changes.. For example, the African elephant depending on the density
of a population can reach sexual maturity between the age of 12 -18 years.
Besides at low a density it breeds 1 baby per 4 years whereas at high density -
birth rate makes it 1 baby per 7 years.
In the second
type of dependence (a curve 2) growth rate of a population is maximal at
average, instead of at low values of density. So, some kinds of birds (for
example, seagulls) the number of nestlings increases with the increase of
population density, and then, having reached the greatest size, it starts to
decrease. This type of influence of the population on the speed of duplication
of individuals is characteristic for kinds at which the group effect is noted. In
the third type (curve 3) the rate of growth of a population does not change
until it will not reach its highest density, then it sharply falls.
The similar picture is observed, for
example, with lemmings. At the peak of their number the density of lemmings
becomes superfluous, and they start to migrate. Elton has described migrations of
lemmings in Norway: animals have passed through villages in such quantities,
that dogs and cats which in the beginning attacked them, have simply ceased to
notice them. Having reached the seas, weak lemmings simply died.
Regulation of
the numbers of equilibrium populations is defined mainly by biotic factors. The
primary factor are often appear to be intraspecific competition. An example of
this could be struggle of birds for nesting.
Intraspecific
competition can cause the physiological effect also known as shock illness. It can
be noted in rodents. When the density of a population becomes too big, shock
illness leads to decrease in fruitfulness and increase in death rate that returns
density of a population to its normal level.
Some adult
species eat their offspring. This phenomenon is known as cannibalism, which reduces
numbers of population. For example, cannibalism can be traced in perches: in
the lakes of Western Siberia, 80 % of grown perches eat young offspring of the
same kind. Young offspring, in turn, eats plankton. Thus, when there is no
other kinds of fish, adult individuals feed off plankton.
Predatoriness as
the limiting factor is of a great importance. And if the influence of a prey
on a number of a predator population does not cause doubts, the return
influence, i. е. Influence on the prey population, doesn’t always happen. First
of all, the predator kills sick animals, by doing so it improves the average
qualitative structure of the prey’s population. Secondly, a role of a predator
is heavily weighted only when both of kinds possess approximately identical
biotic potential. Otherwise because of low reproduction rate, predator is not
able to limit the number of prey. For example, only one insectivorous birds
cannot stop mass production of insects. In other words, if biotic potential of
a predator is much lower of the biotic potential of a prey, actions of a
predator inherit constant character, not dependent upon the density of its
population.
The resulted
differentiation of factors of dynamics of number of populations allows us to
understand their real value in life and reproduction of populations. The
modern concept of automatic control of number of populations is based on a
combination of two essentially various phenomena: modifications, or casual
fluctuations of number, and regulations, operating by a principle of a
cybernetic feedback and levelling fluctuations. According to this modifying
(populations independent of density) and adjusting (populations depending on
density) ecologic factors are allocated, and first ones influence organisms
inderectly or through changes of other components biosenosis. Actually, modifying
factors represent various abiotic factors. Adjusting factors are connected with
existence and activity of alive organisms (biotic factors), because only live
creatures are capable to react to the density of its population and populations
of other kinds base on the principle of a negative feedback (fig. 7).
For example, the predators-polyphages,
which are able to weaken or strengthen their reaction based upon the prey’s
numbers-functional reaction- they usually act when the pre’s population is
low. Predators - oligophages, unlike polyphages, they are characterized by the
numerical reaction of a population of a victim, have an effect in a wider
range, than polyphaes. Once the prey population reaches higher number, the
conditions for distribution of illnesses occur, and, at last, the limiting
factor of regulation - the intraspecific competition leading to limiting of accessible
resources and development of stressful reactions in a population of a victim
are created. Fig. 8 illustrates the iterative buffer system of regulation of the
number of a population under influence of biotic factors, which degree of
influence depends on density of a population. In a real life situation the given
parameter depends on the large number of factors, particularly those that do
not render adjusting influence on density of a population by a principle of a
feedback. Interaction between modifying, adjusting, and such specific factors,
as the sizes of a body, groups and individual site, at their influence on
density of a population of mammals it is shown on fig. 9.
So in order to
receive exhaustive information on what factors cause fluctuations of number,
data about physical and chemical conditions, security resources, life cycle of
these organisms and influence of competitors, predators, parasites, etc. is
necessary to know, how all these factors influence birth rate, death rate and
migration. All populations continuously change: new organisms are born or
arrive as immigrants, and former perish or will emigrate. Despite of it,
fluctuations of the size of a population are not boundless. On the one hand, it
cannot grow endlessly, and on the other hand - kinds seldom enough die out.
Hence, one of the basic attributes of population dynamics is a combination of
changes to relative stability. Thus fluctuations of the sizes of populations
strongly differ with different kinds of species.
Individuals in a population cooperate among
themselves, providing the ability to live and steadily reproduce. In animals
leading a “batchelor” life style or creating families, the adjusting factor is
territory, which influences possession of certain food resources and is of great
importance for reproduction. The individual protects space from intrusion and
allows individuals in only during reproduction.
The most
rational use of space is reached in the event that every other species is
expelled from the territory. This way, the owner of a site psychologically
dominates over it, it is enough for the exile to demonstrate threats, prosecution,
the greatest – false attacks which stop on the borders of a site. In the given
animals individual distinctions between individuals have huge value.
In animals
leading a group way of life and forming flights, herds, colonies, group
protection against enemies and joint care about posterity raises survival rate
of individuals that influences number of a population and its survival rate. Given
animals are organized hierarchically. Hierarchical attitudes are constructed in
such a way that the rank of everyone is known by everyone. As a rule, the
maximum rank belongs to the senior male. The hierarchy controlls all
interactions inside a population: marriage, individuals of different age,
parents and posterity. In animals the special role is given to "mother-child"
relationships. Parents transfer the genetic information and the information about
an environment to the offspring
SPATIAL
ACCOMMODATION OF POPULATIONS
At a level of a population abiotic factors
influence such parameters as birth rate, death rate, average life expectancy of
the individual, growth rate of a population and its sizes, quite often being
the major reasons defining character of dynamics of number of a population and
spatial distribution of individuals in it. The population can adapt to changes
of abiotic factors, first, changing character of the spatial distribution and, secondly,
by adaptive evolution.
The selective
attitude of animals and plants to factors of environment generates selectivity
to habitats, i. е. ecological specialization in relation to sites of an area of
a kind which it tries to occupy. The choice is defined by such factors; it can
be based on acidity, salinity, humidity, etc.
For some kinds zone the change of habitat
is characterized by zone, it would change habitats from one zone to the other.
One of the important factors in
changing habitats is humidity factor.
Wood lice are a very good example of it.
They live on the sea coasts where air is rich with moisture, and where they can
live openly. In high-mountainous areas with dry air, wood lice spend most of their
time under stones and a bark of trees.
Wood louse Lygia oceanica lives on the sea
coast. Day time of a wood louse is spent in the shelter. But when the
temperature of air raises up to 20 °с outside and up to 30 °с under a pebble,
they leave the shelters and creep out on the rocks turned to the sun. The
reason of such moving is that the given kind is very badly adapted for a ground
habitat, has very thin cuticle.
When humidity of
air is low, wood louse loses a lot of water by evaporation, which occurs on the
rocks under the sun. Intensive evaporation reduces body temperature of an
animal which at its finding on a rock is equal 26 °с (fig. 11). If, the wood
louse continues to hide under a pebble where relative humidity is close to 100
%, and evaporation is equal to zero, then the body temperature reaches 30 °с.
Another
important factors is acidity. Sour waters of turbaries promote development of mosses,
but they have absolutely no folding mollusks population in them. Other kinds
of moluscs are extremely, and this has to do with the absence of lime in it.
Fishes bear acidity of water within the limits of Pн from 5 up to 9.At Pн below
5 it is possible to observe their mass destruction, though separate kinds adapt
and to the surroundings, value of which reaches up to 3,7. The efficiency of fresh
waters having acidity less 5, is sharply lowered, that entails significant
reduction of fishe.
Often only insignificant shifts in
concentration of salts in water affect distribution of closely related kinds
(fig. 12). Number of inhabitants of salt waters is very great, but kinds of
species that live in it structure is poor. For example, lake with the salinity
ranging from 2 to 7 % is inhibited by fresh-water fishes, such as a carp,
pike, pike perch that are quite well adapted to low salinity, and sea fishes, such
as mullet which is tolerant to insufficient salinity.
Abiotic factors
render essential influence on density of populations of animals and plants.
Downturn of temperature often catastrophically affects populations of animals:
in the areas adjoining to northern borders of an area, the kind can become rare
and even disappear completely. Besides, frosts in some cases influence food as
well, because it is being concealled under a thick layer of an ice or a snow, and
it becomes absolutely inaccessible to animals. In the places subject to strong
winds, growth of plants starts late, and the fauna can be partially or is
completely destroyed.
CONCLUSION
Question on how evolution occurs in
ecosystems, it is very important, because it is a key to understanding of an
existing variety of communities of live organisms on our planet, changes of
flora and fauna during its geological history. In a basis of evolution lies
the natural selection. But natural selection plays a very important role at a
level of ecosystems. It can be subdivided into mutual selection of autotrophs,
that are dependent upon each other and heterotrophs and group selection which
conducts to preservation of the attributes favorable for ecosystems as a whole
even if they are adverse for specific carriers of these attributes.
There are the
uncountable ways allowing victims to resist to pressure of predators. They can
be reduced to following categories: protective behaviour (flight, затаивание,
use of refuges and т. Item), the protective form and painting (patronizing,
frightening off, warning, a mimicry), inedibility or ядовитость (it is usual in
a combination to warning painting), parental and social behaviour (protection
the posterities warning signals, joint protection of group and т. Item).
Protective means of plants include: rigid
leaves, thorns and prickles, ядовитость, репеллентные and ингибирующие a feed
of animals of substance. Predators and other "exploiters" have not
less refined ways to overtake a victim. We shall recollect, for example, public
hunting behaviour of lions and the wolves, the bent poisonous teeth of snakes,
long sticky languages of frogs, toads and lizards, and also spiders and their
web, a deep-water
fish-Òñ¿½ýÚ¿¬á or boas,
which душат the victims.
The fauna, being a component of an
environment, acts as the integral part in circuits of the ecological systems, a
necessary component during circulation of substances and energy of the nature,
actively influencing on functioning of natural communities, structure and
natural fertility почв, formation of a vegetative cover, biological properties
of water and quality of an environment as a whole, At the same time the fauna
has the big economic value.
Feature of fauna is that the given object
is renewed, but for this purpose observance of the certain conditions, direct
connected with animal protection is necessary. At destruction, infringement of
conditions of their existence the certain kinds of animals can finally
disappear, and their renewal will be impossible.
In the Federal law traditional methods of
protection and use of objects of fauna are stipulated. Persons, whose existence
and incomes are in full or in part based on traditional life-support systems,
including hunting, fishery and collecting, have the right to application of
traditional methods of getting of objects of fauna and products of ability to
live, if such methods directly or indirectly do not conduct to decrease in a
biological variety, do not reduce number and steady reproduction of objects of
fauna, do not break environment of their dwelling and do not represent danger
to the person. The specified persons can carry out this right both individually,
and collectively, creating associations on a various basis (family,
patrimonial, territorially-economic communities, the unions of hunters,
collectors, fishers and others).