Chapter 7. Chapter 7: Population Ecology

Interactive Study Guide
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Guiding Question 7.1

What is a population, and why is it an ecologically significant concept? What factors do ecologists use to describe and monitor natural populations?

Why You Should Care

If you’ve ever ridden on a crowded elevator, you understand population distribution patterns. Have you noticed that every time someone new gets on, everyone else shifts so that there’s as much distance as possible between each person? Essentially, people on an elevator usually consciously or subconsciously adopt a uniform distribution because everyone wants the maximum amount of personal space they can get. Distribution patterns can explain both human behavior and the behavior of other organisms and give a clue to the environmental factors with which they are interacting.

Test Your Vocabulary

Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:

Term Definition
Individuals are spaced evenly, perhaps due to territorial behavior or mechanisms for suppressing the growth of nearby individuals.
The location and spacing of individuals within their range.
An evaluation of the positive and negative impacts of a proposed environmental action, including alternative actions that could be pursued.
Individuals are found in groups or patches within the habitat.
The number of individuals per unit area.
Individuals are spread out over the environment irregularly with no discernable pattern.
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Try again.
Correct.
Incorrect.

1.

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a population?

A.
B.
C.
D.
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Correct.
Incorrect.

Predict what sort of distributions would result from the following situations:

2.

Males of a particular species of bee are very territorial: Each establishes his own home range that is roughly a circle centered on a particular spot and borders on the ranges of other bees.

A.
B.
C.
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Correct. The best answer is uniform. If the bees all have similar ranges and those ranges all intersect one another, you’d expect each bee to space himself even distances away from his competition.
Incorrect. The best answer is uniform. If the bees all have similar ranges and those ranges all intersect one another, you’d expect each bee to space himself even distances away from his competition.

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