Population Basics
The number of individuals per unit area.
What is population density?
Populations that grow fast, then level off at carrying capacity show this type of growth.
What is logistic growth?
The study of human populations.
What is demography?
Farming that focuses on a single crop.
What is monoculture?
The total variety of life on Earth.
What is biodiversity?
Moving into a population.
What is immigration?
Any factor that slows population growth.
What is a limiting factor?
A country with low birth and death rates has gone through this transition.
What is the demographic transition?
A resource that can replenish but may be lost if overused.
What is a renewable resource?
A species that is almost extinct.
What is an endangered species?
This type of growth occurs when populations increase without limits.
What is exponential growth?
This type of limiting factor affects only dense populations.
What is a density-dependent limiting factor?
A graph showing the percentage of males and females by age.
What is an age-structure diagram?
The loss of topsoil.
What is soil erosion?
When humans break up animals’ habitats.
What is habitat fragmentation?
The maximum number of individuals the environment can support.
What is carrying capacity?
Natural disasters are examples of this kind of limiting factor.
What is a density-independent limiting factor?
An age structure diagram with an arch shape represents what kind of growth?
Stable
When fertile land becomes desert.
What is desertification?
Harmful chemicals increasing up trophic levels is called this.
What is biological magnification?
Name the three main characteristics of a population.
What are density, growth rate, and geographic distribution?
Explain the difference between density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors.
Density-dependent factors (like competition, disease, predation) only limit populations when they are large and dense; density-independent factors (like natural disasters or human activity) affect populations no matter their size.
Compare population growth in developed versus developing countries.
Developed countries grow slowly with low birth/death rates; developing countries have rapid growth and higher birth/death rates.
Using resources without depleting them.
What is sustainable development?
Too many greenhouse gases cause this global phenomenon.
What is global warming (climate change)?