What is a population?
When you think of the word population, you might think of the number of people in your town or city. But humans are not the only species to have populations. Every species has a population. Or many populations. This group of penguins, which are all members of the same species and all living together in the same space, is a population.
What is a Population
A population is a group of organisms of the same species, all living in the same area and interacting with each other. Since they live together in one area, members of the same species reproduce together. Ecologists who study populations determine how healthy or stable the populations are. They also study how the individuals of a species interact with each other and how populations interact with the environment.
Ecologists look at many factors that help to describe a population. First, ecologists can measure the number of individuals that make up the population, known as population size . They can then determine the population density , which is the number of individuals of the same species in an area. Population density can be expressed as number per area , such as 20 mice/acre, or 50 rabbits/square mile.
Ecologists also study how individuals in a population are spread across an environment. This spacing of individuals within a population is called dispersion . Some species may be clumped or clustered ( Figure below ) in an area. Others may be evenly spaced ( Figure below ). Still others may be spaced randomly within an area.
Individuals within this population of purple loosestrife plants are clumped because of the soil quality.Ecologists also study the birth and death rates of the population. The birth rate is the number of births within a population during a specific time period. The death rate is the number of deaths within a population during a specific time period. Knowing the birth and death rates of populations gives you information about a population’s health. For example, when a population is made up of mostly young organisms and the birth rate is high, the population is growing. A population with equal birth and death rates will remain the same size. Populations that are decreasing in size have a higher death rate than birth rate.
- birth rate : Number of births within a population during a specific time period.
- death rate : Number of deaths within a population during a specific time period.
- dispersion : How individuals are spaced within a population, whether clumped or scattered.
- population : Group of organisms belonging to the same species that live in the same area and interact with one another.
- population density : Number of individuals of the same species in a particular area.
- population size : Number of individuals of a population.
- A population is a group of organisms of the same species, all living in the same area and interacting with each other.
- Scientists can study many aspects of a population, including density, dispersion, and birth and death rates.
- Describe the possible dispersion patterns for a population.
- Would all the deer and mice living in a forest be a population? Why or why not?