ABSTRACT
Chapter 14 begins with justifications for why population ecology is vital for both applications (such as epidemiology) and theory (is there a balance of nature?). The rest of the chapter presents basic vocabulary of population ecology, then provides increasingly more advanced models that predict population growth. The goal is to prepare students for measuring and managing growth. The vocabulary section includes several terms used when counting organisms like “index” and “census.” It addresses problems like counting modular units and introduces the idea of “genets” and “ramets.” It addresses different ways individuals may be distributed other than at random. Concepts for predicting growth are reviewed including age structure diagrams, life tables, and exponential growth curves. Life tables are reviewed in detail first with a time-specific table to calculate life expectancy. Cohort tables from a soft-shell clam species and a turtle species are presented to demonstrate the idea of fecundity tables and the calculation of R0, the generational replacement rate. The exponential growth equation is reviewed in detail, presenting both the algebraic and calculus forms, as well as addressing how to actually assess growth.
