Question

2. Explain why/how the ecological characteristics of animal populations are studied. In your explanation adress the impotn of understanding popuiation density/dispersion/óynamics, as well as the influence of biotic and abiotic factors.

Answer 1

In ecology, a population consists of all the organisms of a given species that live in a particular area.

Two important measures of a population are population size, the number of individuals and population density, the number of individuals per unit area or volume. Ecologists often used quadrats and mark recapture methods to estimate the size and density of populations.

A population can also be described in terms of the distribution or dispersion of the individuals that make it up. Individuals may be distributed in a uniform, random or clumped pattern. Uniform means that the population is evenly spaced, random indicates random spacing and clumped means that the population is distributed in clusters.

The environment limits population growth by changing birth and death rates. The factors affecting the population size and growth include biotic factors such as food, disease, competitors and predators as well as abiotic factors such as rainfall, floods, and temperature.