Population Ecology

POPULATION ECOLOGY
I. Introduction
The world population, or the total number of humans currently living, as estimated by the United
Nation to have reached 7.8 billion this 2020. Human population and its impact pose a major problem for
the planet. To survive, humans needs to consume materials and space. We occupy land to reside in, to
grow food, to dump wastes. As it stands with the population explosion, there is no end in sight for
humans’ voracious consumption of natural resources. The demands of the human population have dealt
the environment destructive blows and the natural calamities we are now experiencing is a reminder of
the environment’s needs to be attended to. In this module, we explore population ecology as a means to
understand the influence of populations to the environment.
II. Objectives of the Lesson
At the end of the module, the learner should be able to:

1. Discuss how environment influences population.
2. Differentiate the two life-history patterns.
3. Apprehend how the different revolutions have affected global human populations.
III. Lesson Proper
A. Population ecology is the study of populations and their interactions with their environment. The
environment influences population in terms of its density and distribution, age structure and size.
The environment also imposes a limit on populations in that no population can continue to grow
indefinitely in a finite amount of natural resources. Population ecology gives an insight into the
factors affecting fluctuations of populations in the context of environmental supporting capacity.
Population is a group of individuals that are members of a single species living together in the
same area and are likely to interbreed. Population density refers to the number of individuals
per unit area or volume and accounts for the increase in population through birth and immigration,
and the decrease in population through death and emigration. A population grows when the birth
rate exceeds the death rate and declines when the death rate exceeds the birth rate.
B. Factors Affecting Population Dynamics
a. Resource abundance is the availability and abundance of environmental resources like food,
water and space.
b. Life-history patterns includes reproductive patterns. The r-selection or rapid life-history
pattern is a strategy common to species that have small body size, reproduce early, highly
mobile and have short life span such as mosquitoes. K-selection, on the other hand, is a
strategy common to larger animals such as mammals, that have long lifespan, reproduce later
in life and produce few offspring.
c. Environmental conditions such as seasons and climatic conditions and availability of water and
light.
d. Organism interactions in a community are the main limiting factor in keeping population sizes
below the environmental capacity.
C. World Population Milestones
a. Neolithic Revolution, about 11,500 to 5,000 years ago, saw the development of technology
needed to plant and harvest crops and to domesticate animals. This advent of agriculture
provided a means for obtaining more abundant and reliable food supply, thus, supported
population growth.
b. Industrial revolution unfolded as man harness fossil fuels in the form of coal, oil and natural
gas, as a source of energy that had high capacity for work. Supply of food, raw materials and
processed materials were improved, as well as trade and transportation. The booming
economy supported by a surplus in energy in turn supported the growth of human population.
The effect of industrialization was staggering, initially turning a population of a half million to a
billion in a span of 200 years.
c. Medical revolution (1800s), brought about by the discovery of the causes of infections and how
these were transmitted, resulted in massive changes in treating illnesses and vast
improvements in public sanitation and personal hygiene. This have liberated the human
population from the perils of infectious diseases while enjoying a high birth rate – thereby
contributing to the exponential rise of population during this time.
d. Green revolution sought to increase the production and efficiency of agricultural systems
worldwide through the development of new technologies, as a solution for worldwide
starvation.
e. Environmental revolution, which is what we are in now, is a proactively switching from
unsustainable practices to efficient and clean “green” technology. These practices include
shifting to environmentally sustainable sources of energy, new methods of farming and
agriculture, energy-efficient technologies as well as better urban and regional planning and
policy changes.
REFERENCES
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25900148/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ele.12437
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.1916
https://ecologyandevolution.cornell.edu/environmental-change-biodiversity

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POPULATION ECOLOGY

II. Objectives of the Lesson

At the end of the module, the learner should be able to:

III. Lesson Proper

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