Organisms and Environment
Population
• It is a group of similar individuals living in a geographical area, sharing
similar resources, and capable of interbreeding.
• Population has certain attributes, which individual organisms do not
possess:
○ Birth rate per capita births
○ Death rate per capita deaths
○ Sex ratio − Ratio of number of males to females in a population.
● Age distribution:-
○A population can be composed of individuals of different age
groups.
○ Age distribution plot for a given population is given by the age
pyramid.
○ The structure of the age pyramid determines the growth status
of the population, whether it is growing, stable, or declining.
Post reproductive
Reproductive
Post- Reproductive
Expanding Stable Declining
● Population size, more technically, is referred to as population density
(N), which indicates the number of individuals inhabiting a particular
niche.
● If
the population is huge, then relative density is measured instead of
absolute density whose measurement is timeconsuming.
Population Growth
● The size of a population is an everchanging aspect since it depends upon
availability of food, predation, weather conditions, etc.
● This gives us an idea whether a certain population is growing or
declining.
● Some of the reasons for the increase or decrease in population:
○ Natality
(B) − Number of births during a given period in the
given population.
○ Mortality
(D) − Number of deaths during a given period in the
given population
○ Immigration
(I) − Number of individuals of the same species
who have come into the habitat from elsewhere during a given
period
○ Emigration (E) − Number of individuals of the same species who
have left.
● If N is the population at time t, then its density at t + 1 is
N t+1 = N t + [(B + I) − (D + E)]
Growth Models
Growth − When the resources are unlimited, population
● Exponential
tends to grow in an exponential pattern.
○ Ifthe population size is N and the birth and death rates (not per
capita ) are b and d respectively, then increase or decrease in N
at t (time period) is given by,
dN /dt = (b − d) × N
If (b − d) = r, then
dN/ dt = rN
r is the “intrinsic rate of natural increase”.
Or,
N t= N 0e rt
Where,
N t − Population density at time t
N 0 − Population density at time 0
r − Intrinsic rate of natural increase
e − Base of natural logarithms (2.71828)
growth − When the resources are limited leading to
● Logistic
competition between individuals and survival of the fittest, the
population tends to grow in a logistic manner.
○ In this kind of growth, there is an initial lag phase followed by
acceleration or deceleration phases and finally asymptote, when
it reaches its carrying capacity (K).
○ When N in relation to t is plotted, it results in a sigmoid curve
called the Verhulst − Pearl Logistic growth given by,
N − Population density at time t
r − Intrinsic rate of natural increase
K − Carrying capacity
Life History Variations
● Populations tend to increase their reproductive fitness in order to
survive better. This is known as Darwinian fitness (high r value).
● Some of the trends they follow in course of achieving this:
○ Some organisms breed only once in their lifetime. Example Salmon, Bamboo
○ Some breed many times. Example Birds, mammals.
○ Some produce a large number of small sized offsprings. Example Oyster.
○ Someproduce small number of large sized offsprings.
Example Birds, Mammals
Population Interactions
●A natural habitat consists of many organisms living together and these
organisms communicate and interact with each other. For example,
plants depend on insects for pollination.
● Interspecific
interactions are interactions between two different species
of organisms. They can be either beneficial or harmful to one or both
partners.
Interspecific interactions
● Predation − It is beneficial to the predator while the prey is harmed.
○ Itacts as a means of transfer of energy to the next higher
trophic level and of maintaining balance in the ecosystem.
○ Forplants, herbivores are predators and some plants produce
secondary metabolites, thorns, or poisonous chemicals to ward off predators.
○ Similarly,animals also camouflage themselves to protect themselves from
predators. Some preys are poisonous or distasteful (Monarch butterfly is highly
distasteful because of a special chemical it acquires during its caterpillar stage
by feeding on poisonous weeds) so as to avoid predators.
− It occurs only in closely related species wherein they
● Competition
share the same type of habitat and food resources.
○ However, for competition to take place resources need not be
always scarce and competition does not necessarily take place
between same species.
○ Incompetition, the fitness of one species is significantly lower in
presence of another species and survival of fittest ultimately
takes place.
○ Gause’s Competitive Exclusion Principle states that two closely
related species competing for the same resource cannot coexist
indefinitely and the competitively inferior will be eliminated
eventually.
○ Moreover, some species may develop mechanisms to facilitate
their coexistence.
− In this interaction, one of the partners is benefited
● Parasitism
because it resides outside or inside the body of the host and gets free
accommodation and food while the host is affected due to loss of
nutrients.
○ Parasites in nature have developed a wide variety of adaptations such as
hooks and suckers for attachment, loss of digestive system, high reproducing
capacity, etc.
○ Parasitescan live either outside (ectoparasites) or inside (endoparasites) the
body of the host organisms.
○ Brood parasitism is seen in birds in which the parasitic bird lays its egg in the
nest of the unassuming host bird, which takes care of them until they hatch.
For example, Koel lays its eggs in the nest of the crow.
● Commensalism − In this interaction, one of the partners is benefited
while the other is neither benefited nor harmed.
For example, an orchid growing as an epiphyte on the mango tree
The orchid gets support while the mango tree is unaffected.
● Mutualism or symbiosis − In this interaction, both the partners are
benefited.
For example, lichens, interaction of algae and fungi, where both are
benefited.
The fungi give support to the algae while the algae prepare the food for
the fungi.
